Another AWFUL Being Awful

The Daily Mail reports that Mary Conmee, 63, "a retired New York State Police Sgt. who resides in Orrington, [Maine] confessed she was the woman who tried to impede the Brewer Police Department's investigation into a person's 'intent to kill school staff and others' at local schools on Wednesday, authorities said." Why would she do this? Because she's a liberal and so her need to feel good about herself outweighs anybody else's right to life, liberty or property. This was all about her social preening: she thought it might be an immigration enforcement action. 

Virginia Lawmaker Introduces Bill Blocking Scrutiny Of Non-Profits After Minnessota Fraud Exposed

I saw this over at Anonymous Conservative this morning: a Fox News article reporting that "After Somali fraud scandal, VA Democrat pushes bill killing oversight of nonprofits." The politician at issue is the Jessica Anderson, a delegate to the general assembly. You might not think this will get very far, but I've seen comments that Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger is being groomed to be one of the next Democratic presidential candidates. She might push something like this along to solidify support behind her in the party. 

Leftist Upping The Stakes In Minnessota

The leftist rag, the Peoples Dispatch, states that "[m]omentum toward a statewide general strike is rapidly building in Minnesota, as unions, businesses, students, and community organizations prepare to shut down work, schools, and commerce on January 23, in response to the killing of Renee Macklin Good and the expanding presence of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Twin Cities." The article adds:

The call to shut down the Twin Cities and the entire state of Minnesota has been joined by over 100 labor unions, community organizations, cultural groups, and tenant and neighborhood associations. Hundreds of small businesses so far have also declared they will totally shut down, according to a sign-on letter shared with Peoples Dispatch.  

The question is whether anyone (but news organizations) will notice? Meanwhile, per ABC News, the "Army orders military police to get ready for a possible Minneapolis deployment, AP source says." This is only a few dozen MPs according to the article. But it also notes that "[a]bout 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division based in Alaska also have received similar standby orders."

A Look Inside The Mind Of An Elite

 An article from the New York Post entitled "James Cameron moved his family to New Zealand because it’s ‘sane’ compared to ‘extremely polarized’ US." A few things that struck me when I read it:

• The lack of loyalty to any country. He was born in Canada, moved to the U.S. in 1971, purchased a farm (i.e., a bolt hole) in New Zealand in 2012, moved there in 2022 because he preferred how they forced everyone to get the Covid vaxx versus the United States, and now has citizenship in New Zealand. 
• Why are so many elites picking New Zealand as their bolt holes? 
• His collectivist tendencies. The article relates:

    Although he was still working on 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” at the time, he and Amis decided to “make the move as a family” that August because of how New Zealand responded to the pandemic versus the US.

    “New Zealand had eliminated the virus completely,” the “Terminator” director, who was born in Canada but moved to California in 1971, told Besinger. “They actually eliminated the virus twice. The third time when it showed up in a mutated form, it broke through. But fortunately, they already had a 98% vaccination rate.” 

    “This is why I love New Zealand,” he continued. “People there are, for the most part, sane as opposed to the United States, where you had a 62% vaccination rate, and that’s going down – going the wrong direction.”

    Cameron went on to praise New Zealand’s appreciation for science and suggested that the US would fall apart if another pandemic occurred.

    “Where would you rather live?” the Oscar-winning director asked. “A place that actually believes in science and is sane, and where people can work together cohesively to a common goal?”   

So he considers a population insane if they don't do what the elites tell them? Or perhaps he likes the social cohesion that comes from a country that is 68% white versus living in southern California?

New Theory About How Pyramids Were Constructed

"Egypt's Great Pyramid construction rewritten as new evidence exposes how it was actually built" reports the Daily Mail.  

    The construction of Egypt’s Great Pyramid has long baffled archaeologists, with no surviving ancient texts explaining how its massive stone blocks were lifted and assembled so quickly. 

    Traditional theories rely on ramps and a slow, layer-by-layer build, but they struggle to explain how stones weighing up to 60 tons were raised hundreds of feet in just two decades. 

    Now, a new study has proposed that the pyramid was built using an internal system of counterweights and pulley-like mechanisms hidden inside its structure.

    In research published in Nature, Dr Simon Andreas Scheuring of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York calculated that builders could lift and place massive blocks at an astonishing pace, sometimes as quickly as one block per minute. 

    He argued that this would only have been possible with sliding counterweights, rather than brute-force hauling, generating the power needed to raise stones to the upper levels of the Pyramid of Khufu.

    The study also pointed to architectural features inside the pyramid that support this model, identifying the Grand Gallery and Ascending Passage as sloped ramps where counterweights may have been dropped to create a lifting force. 

    The Antechamber, long thought to be a security feature, is reinterpreted as a pulley-like mechanism that could help lift even the heaviest blocks. 

    If true, the study suggested the Great Pyramid was constructed from the inside out, starting at an internal core and using hidden pulley systems to raise stones as the structure grew. 

The Science Is Unsettled

 From Science News: "A massive cosmic ring may challenge a key assumption about the universe." A ring of dense matter spanning more than 3.3 billion light-years is posing a problem for the cosmological principle, which holds that the universe looks the same in all directions on large scales.

    That principle is “the second most fundamental assumption in the field,” after Einstein’s theory of general relativity, says mathematical physicist Eoin ÓColgáin of Atlantic Technological University in Ireland, who studies challenges to the cosmological principle but was not involved in the new work. Every theoretical model of the universe assumes that matter is evenly distributed when you look at large enough volumes of space. Without that assumption, ÓColgáin says, “all hell would break loose.”

    The giant ring joins a growing list of huge structures that shouldn’t exist if that assumption holds. It is apparently an extension of a previously reported “giant arc,” and encircles a smaller — but still huge — “big ring” of material.

    “They appear to present more of a challenge to the cosmological principle together now,” says Lopez, of the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England. “Can we explain something like a ring and an arc together?”

More of Mexico's Assymetrical Attacks On The U.S.

 From Breitbart: "MEXICO’S ELECTION PLOT UNMASKED: How Mexico’s 50+ Consulates Are Running Shadow Campaign to Sway U.S. Elections." Among various activities, they are sending millions of textbooks to American schools that teach history the way Mexico wants it taught, offer similar courses to Mexican adults in the U.S., and organized mass protests in support of illegal immigration into the U.S. I don't see why Mexico should be allowed to have so many consulates. China has one embassy and four consulates in the U.S. Russia has only three consulates in addition to their embassy. Germany has eight consulates. India has only seven. 

Grassi: At Gunpoint Is Wrong

Earlier this month, Massad Ayoob had posted explaining why "On Target, On Trigger" is wrong. By "On Target, On Trigger" he meant having the finger on the trigger while holding someone at gunpoint. But Rich Grassi, in his article "Sacred Cow or Wrong Point?" argues that even pointing the firearm at someone, until you are actually taking your shot, is wrong. He writes:

     Actually, the point is “in the self-defense context, gunpoint needs to go.” If there’s muzzle on meat, we’re in the process of shooting (unless something stops that train). Otherwise, the muzzle is averted in the safest available direction, usually a muzzle-averted (thanks, Dave Spaulding) low ready.

    Low ready has acres of advantages – not the least of which is complete vision of the (incipient) crime scene pre-engagement. If shooting’s not needed, so much the better.

 He's not the only one that teaches this. In the civilian context, the quotes from Marty Hayes:

    “My advice is to avoid drawing the gun unless you absolutely need to do so, avoid pointing the gun at anyone unless you absolutely need to do so, and then call the police to report the criminal activity which caused you to draw the gun.  If you cannot articulate criminal activity on the part of the aggressive parties, don’t draw the gun.

    “An alternative to drawing the gun at all is simply to take a bladed stance, with gun side away from the potential attacker or attackers, and place your hand on the gun underneath your concealment garment, with a warning to back off.  Your resolve to use deadly force if necessary is communicated, but there is no exposure of the gun.”   

Read the whole thing.  

China's Population Continues To Fall

"China’s population falls again as births drop to lowest rate since 1949 communist revolution," reports the Associated Press. Population figures earlier this week show that the population declined by 3 million people last year, and "the birth rate in 2025 — 5.63 per 1,000 people — is the lowest on record since 1949, the year that Mao Zedong’s Communists overthrew the Nationalists and began running China. Figures before that, under the previous Nationalist government, were not available." In other words, birth rates are the lowest ever recorded. The article adds:

Like many other countries in Asia, China has faced a declining fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. While the government does not regularly publish a fertility rate, last saying it was 1.3 in 2020, experts have estimated it is now around 1. Both figures are far below the 2.1 rate that would maintain the size of China’s population.  

The actual population figures may actually be much worse than officially reported, however, as the video below explains:

 VIDEO: "China’s Real Population: A Question No One Is Allowed to Answer"
Lei's Real Talk (14 min.)

NY Post: Rogue Elephant Kills Nearly Two Dozen People In India

From the New York Post: "Rogue elephant kills nearly two dozen people in 10-day rampage through eastern India." An additional 15 people have been injured. Per the article:

    The animal is believed to be in a state of musth — a natural but dangerous hormonal condition in male elephants marked by a surge in testosterone that can last weeks or even months.

    During musth, bulls become extremely aggressive, restless and unpredictable, often roaming long distances and attacking without warning.

Authorities have been unsuccessful in tranquilizing the animal, and "[l]ocal authorities say the elephant has yet to be captured as it continues to evade teams by moving swiftly through dense forest and slipping across remote villages under cover of darkness."

Newsweek: Democratic Socialists Useful Idiots For China

Newsweek reports: 

    Members of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America have been cultivating ties with officials of the Chinese Communist Party and agreeing to take pro-China positions, according to extensive minutes of internal meetings seen by Newsweek. 

    The minutes of the DSA meetings show participants discussing contacts with officials from China’s ruling party in the name of "anti-imperialism," with some members saying the organization should avoid topics that are sensitive for Beijing, such as China's threats to invade Taiwan, its security crackdown in Hong Kong and abuses of the Uyghur Muslim minority. They also discuss visits to China. Chinese officials did not take part in the meetings themselves but met with members in China and encouraged the DSA to set up exchanges, according to the minutes.   

In other words, the Democratic Socialists are okay with invading other countries;  gassing, beating and arresting protestors; and slave labor and concentration camps; so long as it is the "right people" people doing it.  

Some Good News

 It's easy to get lost in the negative news, so I wanted to direct your attention to some good news. Greg Ellifritz recently gave an update on his prostate cancer and reports that the cancer has not spread nearly as rapidly as the doctors had predicted, adding:

The tumor putting pressure on a nerve in my low back has actually gotten significantly smaller.  I still have cancer, but it seems to be confined to what’s left of my prostate gland and in two pelvic lymph nodes.  The cancer has not spread to any anatomic structures where it has the ability to kill me yet.  In fact, it has not spread at all since last May.   

This isn't to say he is out of the woods, though, so keep him in your prayers.  

Mexico's Territorial Ambitions For The American Southwest

From Just The News: "The Reconquista: How Mexico is weaponizing illegal immigration to punish the United States." An excerpt:

    Many pillars of the Mexican elite embrace the notion of Reconquista—the “reconquest” of the land ceded to the United States by Mexico during the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, achieved through mass migration and political action. There are many in positions of power who share some version of that vision.

    While they may or may not mean the literal territorial rejoining of those territories with Mexico, they very much mean the cultural and political detachment of the American Southwest from the US and transforming it to resemble Mexican civilization.

    They hope to accomplish this task by mass migration, preventing the assimilation of migrants in the United States to the American way of life, and organizing them into a political force for Mexico’s benefit. With the help of powerful forces inside the United States, they are well on their way.

    Mexico’s political elite are shockingly open about it.

The article includes comments from José Gerardo Rodolfo Fernández Noroña, a member of the Mexican parliament for President Claudia Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party, former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (popularly known as AMLO), Jorge Nuño Jiménez, a prominent Mexican academic who regularly attends the United Nations Conference, and other elites supporting the Reconquista of portions of the United States. 

    The seems like a good reason to expel illegal aliens and freeze all immigration from Mexico. 

VIDEO: RIA Pak-Out Folding Shotgun And Firearm

Shot Show 2026 content is already showing up on YouTube. One that caught my attention was this video which takes a look at a couple folding designs from RIA--a full size shotgun with stock and a stockless firearm--that appear that they could fold up to fit into a backpack or gym bag. And the prices mentioned seemed pretty reasonable.  

VIDEO: "FOLDING Pump Shotguns Are Here: RIA Pak-Out 12 Gauge | SHOT Show 2026"
TFB TV (5 min.)

What The Left Plans For The Rest Of Us

In a comment to my post "Do They Understand The Possible Consequences?" long time reader Steve S6 pointed me to this article at Metallicman, "What the Progressive Socialist Liberals have in store for Conservatives" (Part 1) (Part 2). And while conservatives think we have the upper hand for various reasons (but probably because of the much higher rates of gun ownership), the articles contains two warnings that we should heed. 

    First, when the balloon goes up, authorities will be going around to forcibly collect those firearms; and if you refuse, they may shoot you on the spot or simply destroy your house with you in it. Apparently this is what they did in the Balkans War. In that case, the only people that had firearms after SHTF were those that possessed them illegally--without them being registered with the government (or in the case of the U.S. in a retail/ATF database).  

    Second, we are probably underestimating their abilities. In Part 2 of the Metallicman article, he cautions that "they will be better armed, and trained than what you are expecting." He also notes that "their mass base skewers far younger, they have a legal system and  media providing overhead cover for their actions, and from our  observation, their level and speed of organization have far surpassed  what the Right was able to accomplish in twice the time." This is not surprising. We saw this type of organization in the 1960s as to the various radical groups, even terrorist groups like the Weather Underground. The left has been doing this--refining this--for decades. For instance, just yesterday, S2 Underground related in a post on X:

By my count, there are at least 55 different legal groups in Minnesota alone that are providing free legal services to the groups conducting these destabilization operations. Whenever federal agents make an arrest at a violent riot, the suspect is usually released a few hours later, and provided with a wealth of free resources. 

(See also Mutual Aid Disaster Relief as an example of organization among the left). The right has not even begun to put together these types of networks.

    Beyond the left having lawyers on speed dial is that they have been training up their direct action people, everything from the front line protestors to the groups that provide "security" such as the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club (JBGC), the Rhode Island JBGC, Redneck Revolt, and other similar groups. Back in 2019, Tactical Hermit wrote about this in his article, "An Examination of the New Violent Left in America," which is cited in Part 2 of the Metallicman article. An excerpt:

    To get a sense of where the average leftist is at regarding violence, there is this overly biased article from the Guardian.  In which members of the the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club stated that they were willing to be armed and get violent if need be to “Provide Security and Protect themselves from Right Wing Aggression.” This is classic deflection (blame) rhetoric. Since in most every video I can find of ANTIFA, it is THESE morons that start the fights, not the Trump Supporters or “Right Wing” groups.

    The PSJBGC go on to clearly state on their website that they believe in “ACTIVE RESISTANCE” and that they train in Defense which includes the right to own, carry, and train with tactically useful rifles, pistols, and body armor. Not sure what “tactically useful” means here, but it is clear, at least to me, that they are trying to be better organized and sound more martially active or “warlike” if you will than other groups you typically find in this ilk which look and sound downright effeminate and weak. 

 That was in 2019. The training has only continued. On November 24, 2025, Wired published an article entitled "The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution" by Manisha Krishnan. The author relates how in July, prior to Kirk's assassination, she was riding in a golf cart to a shooting range near Parma, Idaho, with "a 22-year-old YouTuber who goes by Gun Bunny, ... a Russian Jew who is poly-pansexual" and  "an Indigenous-Mexican Slovak Jew who is trans and chronically disabled." They were there to take part in the High Desert Brutality match hosted by Karl Kasarda, who runs the InRange TV YouTube channel, and who the article describes as "[a] 51-year-old cis white man whose love of subcultures spans hacking, industrial music, and a stint as a minister with the Satanic Temple[.]" "But," the article adds, "there is no question he is largely responsible for building this alternative gun community, which he and others describe as the 'punk rock outsiders of the shooting community.'" The article continues:

These tensions have gotten worse under Trump 2.0. After the president was reelected, left-leaning and queer-focused firearms organizations and classes like the Liberal Gun Club and the Pink Pistols told me they were seeing major spikes in interest and attendance. In early September, media outlets reported that Justice Department officials were considering a gun ban for trans people. In response, one trans gun content creator recommended trans Americans who’d been planning to purchase firearms “do so now.” 

Now I am not saying that every leftist (or even a majority of them) attending classes and events like that described above want an armed revolution; but there are some--probably too many--that do (see, e.g,, "Founder of Armed Queers group investigated in Charlie Kirk shooting is radical trans leftist who advocated violence"--New York Post; "Anti-Fascist. Armed to the Teeth"--Rolling Stone). The Rolling Stone article, for instance, relates:

    In 2019, the JBGC made headlines when 69-year-old Willem Van Spronsen, a senior member of the Puget Sound chapter, attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Tacoma, Washington. Van Spronsen infiltrated the property with a semiautomatic rifle and several Molotov cocktails, before being shot and killed by police. Van Spronsen’s premeditated attack is a notable exception in the group’s history, in which they’ve rarely participated in violence. But his attack and his farewell letter to another member, in which he wrote, “I am antifa” — a reference to anti-fascist activism — gained attention, in particular, from the right.  

    Since Van Spronsen’s death, the number of active JBGC chapters around the country has increased dramatically, based on dozens of new JBGC Twitter accounts popping up. JBGCs have no central leadership or formal organization, instead operating as a loosely connected network of independent cells. Many members wear a patch with a stylized cartoon of their group’s namesake, bordered by the words “I don’t argue with people John Brown would have shot.” Chapters often range in size from around half a dozen members to more than 20, who are usually vetted through personal connections and in-person meetings before being welcomed in. ...

 The author also relates the camaraderie and mission orientation of such groups:

 The John Brown Gun Clubs operate independently but share a similar ethos: Direct action to counter the threat of the far right, and their members are dedicated to anti-fascism, anti-racism, and anti-bigotry. Most groups I spoke to emphasize that showing up armed is only part of their work, mentioning supply drives for unhoused people during Texas’ deep freezes and other mutual-aid events. “The gun stuff doesn’t exist without all this other stuff,” says one JBGC member who goes by the name Accountant. “If we’re going to be carrying guns, there has to be a community reason for it.”    

In other words, they aren't just meeting on weekends just to shoot a some targets, exchange some tall tales, and go home. If things go like they did in the 1960s and '70s, these people will soon be shadowing law enforcement and gathering intelligence, if they are not already doing so.    

Do They Understand The Possible Consequences?

Yesterday, Don Lemon and fellow anti-ICE revolutionaries raided a church in order to intimidate the local ICE administrator (who was also the pastor of the church). Today I came across other incidents showing that the anti-ICE people in Minneapolis are getting out of control: bulling and shouting obscenities at five white men simply because they were white; stealing equipment from a conservative reporter; attacking a man simply for wearing camo (and not the type used by military or law enforcement--it was like that used by duck hunters because the pattern mimics reeds and grass); and threatening and attacking a man with violence unless he took off an American flag hoodie and then stealing it after he had done so. 

    They want a revolution. Whether they get one or not is another question. But the point is that they are pushing to create some political break, possibly causing a civil war. I am reminded of Mark Twain's "The War Prayer" which starts out with a town overtaken with the thoughts of the glory of war, reflected by the prayer offered up by the minister of the town's church. But then a stranger walks to the pulpit to offer a very different prayer:

    “You have heard your servant’s prayer — the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it — that part which the pastor — and also you in your hearts — fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ … When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory–must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

    “O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it — for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

    (After a pause.) “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!”    

This is what the Leftist agitators secretly hope for anyone to the right of them.  

    But in a civil war--especially as one that falls along ideological rather than geographic divides--the innocent on both sides will be slaughtered and suffer.  Jack Lawson reminds us of this in his recent piece describing what an American civil war would be like. He writes:

    I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of dead and probably more internal Human Anatomy than most medical surgeons. The blood thirsty revenge of black Rhodesian Army and Police torturing the Communists to death… for killing and torturing to death their children, siblings, parents and grandparents in their Tribal Trust Lands. God forbid you get between a Mashona or Matabele Warrior in his quest for vengeance. We soon had to be careful who we turned our prisoners over to.

    Bodies callously and without name, unceremoniously pushed into mass grave. I’ve witnessed the poverty, starvation, brutality. Enough killing, dying, barbarity and depravity for another twenty people’s lifetimes. I hope that never comes here. But such is the mad course of events that America’s ‘protestors’ are leading us to.

Beyond the killing, food will become a weapon:

    When it gets to food, you’ll quickly get ‘woke’ (up) to the Leftist’s (Communists) tactics. Because, food is a weapon and when you’re starving, you won’t care who is feeding you and your family. You’ll fight for the devil himself to keep eating. Again, food becomes a weapon. Read my essay “Store Food NOW!” on http:/JackLawsonBooks.Substack.com to understand how this weapon is used.

    The “I hate America!” Socialist stooges, enthusiastically continue, are funded by the background financial assistance and encouragement of the Deep State-Globalist-Elite-Leftist-Marxist-Internationals-One World Order-Woke & Whackos. They, along with the “Talking Heads” of the Main Stream News Media, will be persuading people to think… “Capitalism can’t provide for you, but Socialism (Communism) can!” …as their way to get total control of America. Socialism is Communism, without the gun barrel stuck up your nose.

    Then, how they’ll obtain supplies will be barbaric and they’ll supply only their own believers and those who support them. You’ll have to kiss many tushes to survive if you’re not one of them… and that will probably not work. Letting them rape your Wife, girlfriend or Daughters might get you somewhere.   

But this type of behavior will cut both ways. The Tactical Hermit has a couple recent posts on the Civil War that allude to the barbarity of it all. First, "The Burning of Alexandria," which relates how a Union army forced to retreat "devastated the countryside, burning every habitation. They stole everything that could be carried." The second relates some about a Southern guerilla fighter, "Bloody Bill" Anderson. 

William T. “Bloody Bill” Anderson was quite the gifted psychopath. The deadliest Confederate guerilla leader of the American Civil War, Anderson led his ruthless mob of cutthroats on a reign of terror along the rugged Kansas–Missouri border and killed hundreds along the way. The path Bloody Bill took from a well-behaved, respectful child to an inveterate butcher and rapist is a study in human depravity.    

A better case study for what a second American civil war would be like is perhaps the 30 Years War:

    Before the First World War, it was known as the most destructive conflict in European history – responsible for the loss of as much as 40 per cent of the German population, which according to some estimates may have fallen in the years between 1618 and 1648 from around 20 million to 12 million. This immense human toll as a result of battle, famine, and disease would scar the continent for centuries – so that some historians describe it as the greatest trauma in German history.

    But as well as being horrific in terms of the sheer numbers of casualties inflicted and lives destroyed, the Thirty Years’ War was also horrific for the manner in which it was conducted. As the large number of surviving eyewitness accounts attest, this was a war of attrition, in which civilians often found themselves on the front line. Massacres such as that during the Sack of Magdeburg – the conflict’s worst atrocity, which left up to 20,000 of the city’s 25,000 Protestant inhabitants dead – were conducted without mercy. Huge numbers of refugees were also created, as neighbours were pitched against each other, and entire areas of the country were laid waste. 

VIDEO: Federal FliteControl v. Hornady Critical Defense

Both Hornady Critical Defense and Federal FliteControl both use essentially the same wad to keep the shot together, so why does the Critical Defense perform so much worse than the Federal load? In his article "Federal’s Flite Control vs. Hornady’s Versa-Tite," Nate at the Shotgun Blog writes:

 The Hornady load, even though it has the same basic wad design, does not shoot nearly as tight as the Federal Flite Control. I think this is largely due to using standard lead pellets, a higher muzzle velocity, and lack of buffer material. Even though the wads of both loads probably fall off the payload at about the same distance, odds are the Hornady pellets have more deformation than the Federal pellets. This causes more fliers, and explains the uneven pattern density.  

VIDEO: "Federal FliteControl 8 Pellet Vs. Hornady Critical Defense (Beretta A300 Patterning & Testing)"
Paul W. (10 min.)

 VIDEO: "Effective range of 12 ga 00 buck Federal Flight Control."
30 Second Tactics (3 min.)

Karma or Revenge?

The New York Post reports that "The suspect in the September murder of a teenage girl has himself been found shot dead in his bullet-riddled car, according to police."

    Deshawn Suggs, 18, was found dead in a car on San Antonio’s Far West Side early Saturday from a gunshot wound to the head — nearly four months after he was identified as the sole suspect in the murder of Alianna Ujueta, 17, who was also shot in the head while leaving a party. 

    Suggs’ car and a neighboring residence were riddled with bullet holes and his death has been ruled a homicide, according to News4SanAntonio.

There had been an outstanding warrant for Deshawn's arrest, but "Police said Sunday Suggs is no longer wanted as he has been confirmed dead." 

Big Country Expat Announces Downloadable Library

Big Country Expat has announced he has made some materials available on a Google Drive for download, including his Flammenwerfer Instructions and OPFOR War Manual collection. The direct link for the library is here. 

Mark Felton: The Nazi Bell

 The Nazi Bell is a one of those myths that came out of World War II that is a cross between UFO lore and German super-science. In this video, Mark Felton tries to ferret out the origin of the myth. 

 VIDEO: "Die Glocke - Hitler's Anti-Gravity Machine?"
Mark Felton Productions (14 min.)

VIDEO: Dealing With The Dark On The American Frontier

A couple stories of how Daniel Boone dealt with a couple dangerous incidents that occurred at night.

VIDEO: "Daniel Boone In The Dark On The Frontier"
The Deerskin Diary (11 min.)

Dems Pushing Civil War

• "Minneapolis Mayor says city is 'under siege' after being 'invaded' by ICE as Pentagon says 1,500 troops are on standby for deployment"--Daily Mail. 
• "Seattle's hyperwoke mayor sends protesters to anti-ICE training camps as 4,000 in NYC prepare to use 'Minneapolis tactics' on streets"--Daily Mail. 
• "NYC socialists mustering army of 4,000 anti-ICE activists to bring Minnesota tactics to Big Apple"--New York Post.  
• "Mob storms Minnesota church during worship to target pastor they say has ICE ties"--New York Post. 

Gun & Prepping News #64

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

• "ATF Data Shows The Number of Guns in Americans’ Hands Now Tops Half a Billion"--Shooting News Weekly. Key bit is that as of 2023, the estimated total number of firearms in civilian possession was 506.1 million. Also, "[d]ata indicates that 32,091,000 Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) are in circulation since 1990," although "Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) production decreased 46.2 percent from 2022 to 2023." This was part of a larger trend: "Total domestic firearm production reported in the 2023 AFMER was 8,466,729 – a decrease of 15.4 percent from 2022 reported figures." 
• Scaremongering: "Months after controversial legal move, forced reset triggers are being sold for handguns"--WJLA. 

 Former ATF Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks has fired one, describing it as "scary."

    "I could not get it to fire a single round," Hicks recalled. "The rounds go off so fast that there's no real way to interrupt."   

Woman like her are the reason for misogyny.  

• "Pistol Wizard".  Not an article but a website with articles and guides on topics for new concealed carry owners on how to use and maintain a pistol, the different parts of a handgun, whether a pistol is right for you, belts and clothing for concealed carry, having and using pepper spray, and lots more. It looks like it would be a good resource for new shooters and may even have some new information for experienced shooters. 
• Related: "Glock Disassembly 101"--Wing Tactical. This article covers both a basic field strip and more advanced disassembly to remove the striker, extractor, and trigger assembly.
• "Top 3 Shooting Stances: Isosceles vs Weaver vs Chapman"--Pew Pew Tactical. These are all two-handed stances. If you are using a Kevlar vest or body armor, the Isosceles is the best stance as it squares the armor up toward a threat maximizing the armor coverage. The Weaver stance is similar to a fighting stance you might use in boxing or other martial arts, with the strong side leg dropping back to give more support. The Chapman stance (sometimes referred to as a modified Weaver) simply straightens the shooting arm out a bit more than with the Weaver and brings the head down toward that shoulder and arm to mimic shooting a rifle with the shooting arm being the "stock". Massad Ayoob wrote in one of his books, though, that it is a mistake to get too married to a particular stance because in a dynamic situation, you are going to be twisting your body, moving your feet, and so on, such that you could be moving and shooting through several different stances. 
• And for old shooters: "RECONSIDERING POWERING DOWN" by Massad Ayoob. He notes that old shooters he knows have suffered hand problems from shooting high powered and magnum handguns and suggests that we might want to do most of our shooting with tamer loads. An excerpt:

Remembering my recently deceased friend John Taffin I was reminded how over the years, he shot the hell out of super-powerful handguns like the .500 Linebaugh and hot-loaded .44 Magnum, and wound up with injured hands and wrists. In his writing, he warned the rest of us about it, and set an example by publicly admitting he was shooting lighter loads these days.   

• "Meet FALCO’s New Next-Gen Pocket Holsters"--The Truth About Guns. If you are going to carry in pants pockets, you need a pocket holster. Falco has three new models: a leather "wallet" style (designed to break up the outline of the handgun and make it look like you have a large wallet in your pocket), a lightweight Kydex holster, and a really light (and really expensive) carbon fiber holster.
• "Making DIY ammunition from blanks in Germany"--Impro Guns. Video at link.

 Combining 9mm PAK blanks with 9mm big bore airgun pellets for use in 3D Printed guns such as the FGC-9 or Urutau (featured).

• "The Art of Pocket Carry" by Travis Pike, Safariland. An excerpt discussing the advantages of pocket carry:

    Speed in a defensive encounter is always critical. As concealed carriers, we work on having a fast draw because speed is a major value. Pocket carry can be fast, but it can also be slow. Having to reach into your pocket from outside can be quite slow.

    For those inclined to a fast draw, pocket carry offers you the ability to simply put your hand in your pocket and grip your gun without anyone being the wiser. Drawing and placing an accurate shot on target can be done in under a second with a holster like the Safariland Model 25.

    Another obvious benefit to pocket carry is that the gun conceals easily. You don’t need to worry about your shirt riding up or tuckable holsters. It drops in your pocket, and if it’s the right size, it disappears. Admittedly, if you are the tight-pants type, it’s not for you.

    And finally, a pocket pistol very convenient. You can carry it easily day in and day out without the poke and prod of a standard holster. If you’re running to the store for milk, the thought of throwing on pants, a belt, and a standard holster might not be that appealing. A J-Frame in your pocket is a heckuva lot better than the Glock 19 left at home. 

 He also discusses picking a handgun for pocket carry, selecting a holster, and has some other tips as well as a practice drill he calls the Wizard Drill. 

• Related: "The Pocket Pistol"--Gun Culture 2.0. The author has some excerpts about pocket carry from English gun writer Hugh B.C. Pollard in his 1917 work, The Book of the Pistol & Revolver. 
• Related: "Concealed Carry: All About Pocket Carry"--Pew Pew Tactical. 
• "It’s Shoulder Holster Season…How Will You Be Celebrating?"--Shooting News Weekly.  The title refers to the fact that most people who use shoulder holsters use them under a jacket or coat and, therefore, mostly in cooler weather. The author has some tips and comments about shoulder holster carry if it is something that interests you. 
• Related: "How to Wear a Shoulder Holster"--Falco.  A detailed article and a couple videos.
• Related: "Best Shoulder Holsters: Comfortable, Concealable, and Ready for Carry"--The Firearms Blog. This is a 2026 article that goes over the basics of shoulder holsters and then looks at the Model D906 Kydex Holster, the Horizontal Revolver Shoulder Holster D129, and the D633 L Sherman Leather vertical roto shoulder holster, all from Falco Holsters. The Kydex holster mentioned above is a single sided model (holster but no magazine holder), but Falco also offers a Kydex holster that is double sided (holster on one side, magazine holders on the other--the D905) for about $180, which is nearly a $100 less than a leather holster. 
• "De-Sporterizing a Lee Enfield No4 MkI"--Hunting Gear Guy. In the decades following WWII, as nations modernized and ditched their old bolt action military rifles, those rifles found their way into the surplus market where they could be purchased for cheap. Many were converted, to one extent or another, to make them more usable as a hunting rifle--typically with different stocks and adding some way to mount a telescopic sight, but sometimes with more radical changes--a process called "sporterizing". Some sporterizing was done well by accomplished gun smiths and some were done poorly. But as the supply of surplus rifles in good condition dries up, I suspect that we will see more this: someone taking a sporterized weapon and trying to return it to some semblance of its original military configuration. 
• "CMP To Start Selling Surplus Shotguns?"--The Firearm Blog.  The most recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) "authorizes the Army, Navy, and Air Force to make a one-time transfer of shotguns determined to be surplus to the CMP for resale." However, "military surplus shotguns with barrels under 18 inches or shotguns designed for 'Masterkey' applications cannot be transferred to CMP." It also only authorizes the sale of pump-action shotguns. At the time the article was written, the NDAA had not yet passed Congress, but it has since been signed into law, but it appears this provision survived into the final version. 
• "Is the 1911 the Ideal Woods Gun?"--The Armory Life.  It seems to be enough for woods or range work in Texas, according to the author. From the ballistic gel tests I've seen, in a +P loading with hard cast bullets, it should do just as well as 10mm with hard cast bullets. Anyway, the author writes:

... The 1911 is an inherently accurate gun, particularly modern production models. The long sight radius of a 5” “government model” allows for precise aiming, particularly when equipped with modern sights. The mechanical accuracy of the gun is also supported by its crisp, single stage trigger. Operating the trigger is instinctive and easy to learn, allowing fast and easily repeatable shots compared to longer, heavier and/or mushier triggers.

Compared to pistols devoid of manual safeties, the thumb safety of the 1911 offers significant protection when going through brush. In addition. the heft of the 1911, combined with the low operating pressure of the .45 round, gives the gun its highly controllable recoil impulse. Finally, while still a slim and handy single-stack, its capacity exceeds the number of cartridges held in any of the big bore or high-power revolvers more commonly recommended as woods guns. 

• "Fudd Friday: Are Iron Sights on a Hunting Rifle Obsolete?"--The Firearm Blog. No, the author explains, because even if you have a great optic, if it gets damaged or otherwise cannot be used, the iron sights allow you to have something on which you can fall back. He notes this is particularly important on hunts where you cannot easily get back to civilization to repair or replace a scope or get a different rifle. 
• "Deer markings actually glow: The scrapes and rubs the mammals leave behind shine under UV light humans can't see"--Popular Science. Time to start carrying a UV light when hunting?
• "The Unsolved Mysteries of Trapper and Hunter Deaths Still Haunt the Yukon Wilderness Today"--Outdoor Life. From the article: 

One of the men was Ed Wilkinson, a 58-year-old trapper who disappeared in 1977. Ed was said to have been born on the trap line, as tough as they come, but kind-hearted too. He was known to have survived grizzly attacks and was once gored by a bull moose. He had lived his entire life in the Yukon wilderness. The other man was a 49-year-old large carnivore expert and a traditional bowhunter named Bart Schleyer, who failed to show up for a scheduled floatplane pick up in 2004. Later, a few of his bones were found. Schleyer was a legend in his own time, called the last wild man by some. He was a friend to wildlife biologists, hunters, and other adventurers around the world.  

• "Five reasons to use a survival knife lanyard"--Survival Common Sense. I can speak from experience that the most basic reason is so you don't lose the knife. I lost an expensive pocket knife with a pocket clip on a hunting trip. I'm not sure if it simply worked its way loose climbing a steep mountain side or if a branch or bit of brush caught on it and pulled it loose, but it was a disappointing way to end a day of hunting to discover it was gone. But in addition to securing it against loss, the author also mentions safety when processing a large animal, keep from having it wrestled away from you if you have to use it for self-defense (although I question the wisdom of this), safety while using (don't want it to go flying if you lose hold), and greater visibility if you put a bright cord on it. 
• "Flint and Punkwood: A Colonial Fire Starting Technique"--Breach Bang Clear.  

... Flint and steel were common in the kit of colonial Americans and popular trade items to native peoples in the interior. In more remote areas, chert could be substituted for flint, so long as it was the sort of rock that can strike sparks. But just as vital to the fire starting kit is the fine tinder used to take a flame. Many woodsmen carried tinderboxes filled with charred cloth. The problem with charred cloth is that it is very much a chicken before the egg sort of tinder. You have to make the charred cloth on a fire ahead of time. Anthony of the Deerskin Diary channel demonstrates and dives into the historiography of using punk wood as tinder. This way, common with Southeastern tribes during the colonial era, is an excellent fuel, provided you know where to find it.  

• "The Slishman Wrap & Wound Care For When There Is No Doctor"--Deep Roots At Home.  The author mentions that "The Slishman Pressure Wrap was created by Dr. Sam Slishman, an emergency medicine doc, to make applying a tourniquet or pressure bandage simpler for an untrained user." 

    Because of the risk involved, traditional tourniquets should 1.) only be applied by someone with proper training and 2.) initiate an immediate evacuation to definitive care. Most ordinary people don’t own or even know how to use one. (source)

    Using the Slishman pressure wrap, however, is intuitive – apply direct pressure and wrap around the wound. If too much pressure is applied, the wrap can be easily adjusted as to not make the injury worse. It is finely adjustable (tighten until hemostasis is achieved, then loosen for pain control and better perfusion to the extremity).

    It will replace the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT), which will stop bleeding, but the pain is crazy —plus, you could lose the entire limb if not administered correctly and for too long. A CAT won’t work for kids.   

There is an embedded video showing how to use the pressure wrap.  

• "The Seven Vegetables You Should Always Grow From Seeds (and Why)"--Life Hacker. The author lists carrots, beets, radishes, corn, beans, cucumbers, and lettuce. 
• "Can You Leave Your Propane Tank Outside In Winter? Here’s What You Need To Know"--Southern Living. The author writes:

Your propane tank should be fine in the winter unless the temperature dips below -40°F. Propane becomes a liquid at -44°F, making it difficult to fire up the grill.    

The article also has tips on safely storing portable propane tanks.  

• "28 Underrated Prepping Items That Could Save Your Life in an Emergency"--The Late Prepper. A check list of some items that you might want to have on hand but which you might have not really thought about or considered, like aluminum foil, zip ties, safety pins and sewing supplies, a pencil sharpener, bungee cords, etc. 
• "Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)"--Organic Prepper.  She covers 10 reasons or causes people will die, including dying of thirst or waterborne illness, running out of necessary medications, infection, murdered, suffer an accident resulting in major trauma, and others. One she mentions is dying due to fantasy-world planning:

 So many preppers have poorly thought-out plans for survival. They think they’ll “live off the land” and hunt, forage, and farm their way through the apocalypse, but they’ve never milked a goat or planted the contents of their seed banks. They don’t understand that gardens and crops can fail for innumerable reasons. They think they’re still in the same physical condition that they were 25 years ago and overestimate their ability to perform physical labor, like chopping wood for the fire. There are hundreds of bad strategies that will get preppers killed (in fact, here are 12 of them), and mostly it boils down to one crucial fact: it’s all a fantasy. They’ve never done ANY of the things that they think they will do for survival, or if they have done them, it was decades ago, when they were younger, fitter, and more resilient. I can tell you right now, if we had to live off of the contents of this year’s drought-stricken, deer-and-gopher-raided garden, we’d last about a week, enjoying salsa by the jarful, but little else.

• "Free Survival PDFs, Manuals, & Downloads"--Trueprepper.com. The title says it all. 

Weekend Reading

• First up is a new newsletter from Jon Low at Defensive Pistolcraft.  One of the points raised in the newsletter is the concept of giving yourself permission to act in self-defense should the need arise. Quoting from an email from Jeff Boren:

     Every defensive encounter begins with a decision most people never 
consciously make.  

    Not the draw.  

    Not the shot.  

    Not even the recognition of the threat.  

     The first real action happens long before any of that.  It is the internal permission to act.  And if that permission has not already been granted, nothing else matters.  

     Tom Givens says it plainly:  “We carry a gun because we might have to shoot someone.”  That statement resonates because it forces honesty.  Carrying a firearm is not symbolic or theoretical.  It is preparation for a specific, unpleasant possibility.  

     Jeff Cooper described this as lowering the threshold for violence.  Not recklessness.  Not aggression.  A willingness to act decisively when action is required.  That willingness is not created in the moment.  It is a pre-made decision, declared long in advance.  

     Lance Thomas understood this.  After surviving multiple violent encounters, he said, “I refuse to be a victim of violent crime.”  That decision was not formed when the door opened.  It existed long before the first criminal ever walked into his store.  

     That is mindset.   

 You need to make the decision that you will resist a criminal assault even resorting to using a lethal weapon before the incident so you don't freeze if that moment comes. It gives you time to think of the moral implications and what you would be willing to do ahead of time, rather than having that internal debate when someone is breaking into your house, or attacking your wife or kids. This is only a selection from the whole email, so be sure to read the whole thing. 

A point that comes up a couple of times in Jon's newsletter is the importance of the first, cold shot. You draw or split times are meaningless if you are not adept at a cold draw and shot because that may be the only chance you have against an armed killer. One way to measure this is to test a cold shot, measure it, and see how you do. But, as asserted in an article he cites to--"Getting More Out Of 'Cold Performance' Assessments--if you are going to the range and know exactly what is going to happen and what drills you are going to do, is that really a "cold shot"? The author of that article suggests you "optimize the first run of the day by introducing some ambiguity into the evaluation by mixing things up" by, for instance, putting your drills on some 3x5 cards and mixing them up and doing the first one you draw as your "cold" assessment. He has a couple other ideas as well.

There is a lot more that Jon has in his newsletter, so be sure to check it out. For instance, he has compiled a list of upcoming armed self defense classes coming up. 

• Next up is a new Weekend Knowledge Dump from Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training. Some of the links which caught my attention:
• An article on handheld tactical flashlights. It tells you what to look for in a quality tactical flashlight. Unfortunately, it does not address how to use the flashlight with a handgun. Not to worry, though: In my November 23, 2025 "Gun & Prepping News # 56" I included three articles on using a tactical flashlight with a handgun.  
• A detailed article on the "violin" reload for shotguns.
• An article discussing whether muzzle tape impact accuracy. The reason for taping the muzzle of a rifle (the author uses electrical tape) is to keep water and debris out of the muzzle. I've read in WWII, before one of the big Pacific landings, Marines were issued condoms to put over the muzzles of their rifles for the same purpose. It would probably work today assuming you could find some that were not lubed. Either Spain or Germany had muzzle caps that fit over the muzzle of a CETME or G3 that were designed to be able to shoot off the end if you fired it with the cap on. I bought one and discovered, completely by accident, that it worked exactly as intended. And in answer to the original question, the author found that the muzzle tape did not impact accuracy.
• The UK has selected the GLOCK GR-115 rifle as their official police carbine. Not sure why their police need select fire rifles since it is illegal for most anyone to own firearms. 
• A history of thumb opening knives. My first exposure to the idea of a knife with an attachment for opening with the thumb was a book on survivalism and prepping that mentioned using a "flickit" attachment to a Buck knife. Based on the article, the author's first exposure was similar--ads for those devices in Soldier of Fortune magazine.
• An article compiling the results of tests of the terminal ballistics of the .380. An excerpt that I found useful:

We have concluded that Full Metal Jacket .380 ammunition will always achieve at least 16 inches of penetration in gel with 4 layers of denim and will penetrate intermediate barriers better than .380 Jacketed Hollow Points. If a pistol will feed anything it will feed FMJ. It should penetrate the vital organs of a large man from almost any angle even if it must pass through his arm to reach his chest.

•  Moving away from self-defense and shooting, here is an interesting long read from The War Zone (TWZ): "Did A Mysterious 'Sonic Weapon' Really Aid Delta Force In Capturing Maduro?"
• And while not something to "read", Aeon has a video exploring the Roman road networks.  If the video is accurate, the main highways were much wider than I had imagined. 

Immigrants Doing The "Jobs" Europeans Won't

From the Daily Mail: "Students were raped after being forced to live in complex alongside 125 refugees to 'aid integration'." Per the article:

    Terrified Dutch students made to live side-by-side with 125 refugees to aid their 'integration' were subjected to years of sexual assault and violence, an investigation has reported.

    Stek Oost, located in the Watergraafsmeer district of Amsterdam, was sold to the Netherlands as the dream solution to the housing and refugee crisis.

    A total of 125 students and 125 refugees would live alongside each other, and were even encouraged to 'buddy up' so the migrants would adapt to life in the Netherlands more quickly.

    But students living there told Dutch investigative documentary programme Zembla they faced multiple sexual assaults, harassment, violence, stalking and even claimed a gang rape had taken place.

Reading something like this, I have to wonder why aren't all the Dutch voting for Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom. 

VIDEO: Using A Red Dot

 Advice on using a red dot sight and how using one is different than aiming with an iron sight.  

 VIDEO: "Aiming 101: Staying Target Focused with a Red Dot"
JagerWerks (4 min.)

Small Victories

From Zero Hedge: "President To Sign Bill Allowing Return Of Whole Milk In Schools." This will overturn U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines that required milk served in school cafeterias to be fat-free or low-fat. 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

After years telling us that the planet was warming and sea levels were rising, Kamala Harris bought an $8.2 million seaside mansion in Malibu. The residence also features a fireplace, gas stove, and tankless water heater to ensure that extra carbon is emitted into the atmosphere. 

VIDEO: Fahrenheit Is Better Than Celsius

So much better, because it is related to the real world we experience rather than just the phase transitions of an arbitrary liquid at a particular air pressure. 

 VIDEO: "Fahrenheit is Better."
A Hill to Die On (8 min.)

Illegal Aliens Cost Texas Hospitals Over $1 Billion In 2025

"Illegal Aliens Cost Texas Hospitals Over $1 Billion in 2025," reports the Texas Scorecard. According to data collected by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, there were "313,742 hospital visits from patients not legally present in the U.S., costing hospitals $1.05 billion during the reporting period." 

Notably, the data does not reflect a full fiscal year of mandatory reporting. Hospitals were only required to begin submitting data in November 2024, leaving the first two months of fiscal year 2025—September and October—unreported.      

Lawrence Person, at his Battleswarm Blog, points out the obvious about people that support illegal immigration:

Funny how Libertarian sorts claiming that illegal aliens are a net benefit to the economy always seem to leave a lot of “externalities” out of their calculations: Higher crime rates, more sex trafficking, enabling transnational criminal organizations, more voting fraud, higher government spending and higher taxes to provide government services for illegal aliens, higher prices for citizens for limited housing, depressed wages for citizens, etc. And, of course, higher medical bills and insurance rates for citizens, since illegal aliens generally feel no compulsion to buy health insurance.       

And, as one of the comments to Person's post noted, this doesn't even include the illegal Medicaid expenditures to benefit illegal aliens. And this is just one state.  

SETI@Home Found Billions Of Signals Of Interest

From Live Science: "Largest crowd-sourced hunt for alien intelligence reveals 12 billion 'signals of interest' in collapsed Arecibo Observatory data." SETI is the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. The SETI@Home was a program you could download for your PC that ran in the background to sort through signals recorded over decades from the Arecibo Observatory to identify potential signals from an extraterrestrial intelligence. The article reports that "[n]ow, the researchers behind the project have narrowed that daunting list down to the top 100 candidate signals, which they are studying in detail with China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) — now the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, following the death of Arecibo." 

VIDEO: One Handed Pistol Shooting

A video from Langdon Tactical with tips and advice for shooting one-handed.

 VIDEO: "One Handed Shooting (#8)"
Langdon Tactical (13 min.)

I agree with most of what is in the video, but I feel that the stance he demonstrates is more for the benefit of those using a Kevlar vest or body armor than the typical civilian shooter who probably won't have a vest or plate. 

I much prefer a more bladed stance when shooting one handed (almost like a fencer's stance, but with the feet and shoulders offset slightly to allow for better side-to-side mobility). It aligns the body giving you better accuracy, you have the body behind the shooting arm which IMHO helps absorb recoil, and you present less of a target (at least if you are skinny). Some gun designs (such as the old Western style revolvers with the plow handles) demand this type of stance for the best performance. The photo below, although it doesn't show the legs and feet, demonstrates what I'm talking about. 

But if you are using body armor, the disadvantage is that it exposes the armpit and side of the body which are generally unprotected. It also can align the lungs and the heart, so a hit could potentially be worse than if you were shot in the front.  

Source: "The Art of One-Handed Shooting"--The Armory Life.

More Fraud - Maryland This Time

Anonymous Conservative's daily news brief for today related quite a lot  fraud and shenanigans going on in our country, including new allegations of fake ballots being counted, but the story about unemployment benefits fraud in Maryland caught my attention. From Fox 45 News: "Audit exposes $760 million in uncollectable overpayments, state officials point fingers." The article relates:

    Thousands of Maryland residents have received letters from the Maryland Department of Labor demanding repayment of unemployment insurance overpayments.

    Gina Cross received a letter demanding $250; however, Cross insists she's never applied for unemployment benefits.

    "I've been working the same place since 2018," Cross, who believes she's a victim of identity theft, said.

    A recent state audit revealed that over the past five years, Maryland has issued millions in overpayments to individuals who should not have received them. The audit stated, "The state did not timely pursue recovery of claimant overpayments totaling $807.4 million resulting in up to $760.7 million that is no longer collectable." It also noted that the Department of Unemployment Insurance (DUI) lacked procedures for supervisory reviews of claims, potentially allowing fraudulent activity to go undetected.

 That's $760,700,000 from just one government program. How many others are out there? When Musk says that fraud accounts for $1 trillion per year of the federal budget, he may be being optimistic. 

SCOTUS Allows Federal Candidate To Challenge Voting Rules

 Roll Call reports: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that candidates for federal offices have the right to file lawsuits that challenge election rules that govern the counting of votes, regardless of their chances of winning or campaign costs." The article continues:

    The 7-2 decision specifically revived a lawsuit from Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., over an Illinois law that allowed ballots to be counted if they arrive as late as 14 days after Election Day, arguing that it conflicts with federal laws that set election dates.

    Lower courts had found that Bost and other plaintiffs were not directly harmed by the state election rule in a way that would allow them to challenge it.

    Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in an opinion joined by four other justices, found Wednesday that federal candidates have “an obvious personal stake” in how election results are determined and regarded.

    “Departures from the preordained rules cause them particularized and concrete harm,” Roberts wrote, such as how a runner in a 100-meter dash would suffer if the race were unexpectedly extended to 105 meters. 

This has the potential to expose some of the voting irregularities complained of since the 2020 election. 

The Burning Platform: Fake It Until You Make It

I've written before (see, e.g., here, here and here) about Peter Turchin's research on civil war and the factors that lead to civil war. One of the biggest factors that contributes to social unrest, according to Turchin, is popular immiseration: "a societal condition where the well-being of the general population declines as the rich get richer, leading to increased unhappiness, resentment, and social instability, often characterized by wage stagnation, loss of access to services (health, education), and 'deaths of despair'." 

    I've discussed before how many factors of well being for the average person (particularly white men) plateaued in the 1970s. For instance, although there are some squiggling up and down, the average real wage (i.e., adjusted for inflation) of men has been stagnant since the 1970s even though productivity continued to climb. Turchin, in his article I linked to above on popular immiseration, notes that "average stature of native-born Americans"--a good measure of biological well-being--"grew rapidly until the 1970s, and then stagnated." Increases in life expectancy has stalled across much of the United States, and has actually declined in some regions. The average age of marriage (which tends to drop during good times) has increased in recent decades. "In short," he concludes, "a variety of indicators show that well-being of common American has been declining in the last four decades. The technical term for this in the structural-demographic theory is immiseration."

    The Burning Platform has posted a piece entitled "Fake It Until You Make It" which, although ostensibly about inaccurate and misleading government economic indicators, also reveals aspects of "popular immiseration". For instance, talking about inflation figures, the author writes:

It’s embarrassing living under the rule of a quasi-fascist corporate governmental bureaucracy built on a funeral pyre of lies, growing ever larger by the minute, anticipating a spark igniting a conflagration never before seen in history. The average “forgotten man” knows their cost of living increases are nowhere near 2.7%, as they pay 30% more for utilities, 20% more for a steak, 10% more for chicken, 20% more for car insurance, 10% more for homeowners insurance, 10% more for property taxes, 10% more for rent, 35% more for new and used cars  since 2020, and the list goes on. The CPI is a LIE.

 Also:

    There were a couple charts posted by the Kobeissi Report which I think explain why the average working stiff is mad as hell and getting close to not taking it anymore. The percentage of GDP which goes to workers in the form of compensation just reached an all-time low of 53.8%. It is clear from the chart, this has not been the century of the worker, but the century of bankers and corporations. From 1947 through 2000, workers received approximately 64% of GDP in compensation. It seems that giant sucking sound described by Ross Perot in 1992 was accurate, as millions of good paying jobs were outsourced to 3rd world shitholes, and now robots and AI are completing the task of gutting the middle class to benefit billionaires, bankers and politicians. 

    With current U.S. GDP of $31 trillion, workers would be receiving over $3 trillion more in annual compensation if our overlords had not financialized the world and treated workers as nothing more than replaceable cogs in their finance machine. ...

The author included the following graphic to help show this trend:

Keep in mind that the situation is even worse than it appears, because until the 1970s, most households were only one income (generally the husband/father) but now the majority are two-income. That means that the GDP percentage going to workers is being spread much more thinly among a greater number of workers. 

    In any event, the Burning Platform covers more evidence of worsening popular immiseration. And the author of that piece is very pessimistic about the future. All it would take is a particularly charismatic leader and an organized movement financed by disaffected elites, and we could easily find ourselves in a civil war. 

Good Injured The ICE Agent She Struck With Her Car

"Federal investigators have come out to say that ICE agent Jonathon Ross suffered internal bleeding after being struck by Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis," reports PJ Media, adding:

Reports by CBS News state that Ross was treated at a hospital for internal injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, and the resulting internal bleeding triggered imaging, monitoring, and medical intervention. This sequence only follows a serious physical impact.   

It's a good thing that the spouse, Rachel Good, received so much money from donations because it can be used to settle the lawsuit he hopefully will file against her and Renee Good's estate.  

Scientists Discover Lost Mayan City

From Popular Science, "Scientists Discovered a Complex Maya City Buried Deep in the Jungle." Researchers have named Ocomtún, meaning “stone column” in Yucatec Maya, because of the multiple cylindrical columns discovered at the sight. It is believed that these columns served as entrances to upper rooms of a structure. The city was discovered in the jungles of the Balamakú ecological reserve on the Yucatan Peninsula using LiDAR and subsequent investigation on the ground.  "The 123-acre site includes three plazas featuring 'imposing buildings and surrounded by several patio groups,'" the article reports, as well as a ball game court, and is perched on a peninsula of high ground surrounded by extensive wetlands.

Finally: DHS To Terminate Protected Status For Somalis

ABC News reports in a very melancholy manner that "DHS announces termination of protected status for Somalis after group targeted by Trump." It will on affect 2,400 people according to the article, but it is a start. 

Stories of Corruption and Betrayal

• "Former US Navy sailor learns his fate after stealing secrets about America's war tech for China"--Daily Mail. The article relates that "Jinchao Wei, 25, was convicted of trading technical secrets about the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, as well as information on the location of other Navy vessels, to a Chinese intelligence officer for $12,000," and will now be spending more than 16 years in prison. And get this: "After his arrest in 2023, Assistant US Attorney Fred Sheppard revealed that Wei’s mother encouraged him to betray the US when he went home to Wisconsin for Christmas." I would hope that, at the least, Wei's mother is either imprisoned or expelled from the U.S.
• James O'Keefe on X (bold in original): 

BREAKING: U.S. Secret Service Agent Assigned to VP JD Vance Leaks Sensitive Security Information to Undercover Reporter.

Escotto is a holdover from the Biden administration and stated that he voted for Joe Biden, while expressing opposition to ICE & the Trump administration’s immigration policies. “I hate that [ICE] sh*t.”

Tomas Escotto, a current U.S. Secret Service agent on Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail, was recorded on hidden camera providing an undercover journalist with sensitive security information, including protective formations, shift schedules, travel plans, & real-time locations.

The Secret Service agent detailed how the Vice President is physically surrounded, described multiple daily shift changes, & disclosed advance security procedures.

•  "A New Nick Shirley Video Shows Grift That Is 'Ten Times Worse' and Will Cause 'World War III'"--PJ Media. 

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was told over the weekend that a new Nick Shirley video being released soon - maybe even as early as Monday — is "ten times worse" than the "Quality Learing Center" daycare scam. 

     In Shirley's previous video, he and his source, David Hoch, who has been investigating this billion-dollar-plus scam for years, discovered multiple daycare centers in one building without children in them for years. 

     And this is where Hoch says is the heart of the ongoing continuing criminal enterprise. 

    Hoch says the new video will show that most of these companies are Somali-owned, and his and Shirley's visit to these companies found zero companies. 

    "What I believe is the core of all this is this non-emergency medical transportation. A search showed that Minnesota recognizes 1,020 NEMT [Non-Emergency Medical Transport] companies. Almost 900 of them are Somali-owned," he told Bessent. Hoch went on, "In the second video, Nick Shirley and I went to 16 of them — I've actually been to about 70 of them." At this point, he held up his papers and leaned forward to Bessent to emphasize, "THEY DON'T EXIST."

• Eric Daugherty on X:  Noting the school closures in Minnesota are timed at the same time that Somali day cares are being investigated, meaning that the kids not going to school are going to have to go somewhere--i.e., the formerly empty day cares.  

Interplanetary - Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

From MIT News: "Fueling research in nuclear thermal propulsion". From the article:

    There are three broad types of rocket propulsion: chemical, where thrust is achieved by the combustion of rocket propellants; electrical, where electric fields accelerate charged particles to high velocities to achieve thrust; and nuclear, where nuclear energy delivers needed propulsion.

    Nuclear propulsion, which is only used in space, not to get to space, further falls into one of two categories: nuclear electric propulsion uses nuclear energy to generate electricity and accelerate the propellant. Nuclear thermal propulsion, which is what Hampson is researching, heats a propellant using nuclear power. A significant advantage of NTP is that it can deliver double the efficiency (or more) of the chemical equivalent for the same thrust. A disadvantage: cost and regulatory hurdles. “Sure, you can get double the efficiency or more from a nuclear propulsion engine, but there hasn’t been a mission case that has needed it enough to justify the higher cost,” Hampson says.

    Until now.

    With a human mission to Mars becoming a very real possibility — NASA plans on sending astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s — NTP might soon come under the spotlight.     

More:

•  "US to build nuclear reactor on moon by 2030: NASA"--New York Post. This article from 1/13/2026 relates:

     NASA and the US Department of Energy are working to develop and deploy a nuclear reactor on the moon’s surface within the next four years — fulfilling one of President Trump’s visions for space development, according to authorities.

    The agencies signed a memorandum of understanding anticipating they will accomplish the ambitious goal of deploying nuclear reactors both on the moon and in orbit by the year 2030, the DOE and NASA announced on Tuesday.

    The reactors will use a fission surface power system, capable of producing “safe” and “plentiful electrical power,” for future long lunar missions — regardless of sunlight or temperature, the department said. 

•  "We’re building nuclear spaceships again—this time for real"--Ars Technica (2024). This article gives a history of U.S. research and tests into building nuclear powered rockets, why the concept was abandoned in the 1970s, and why interest is waxing again:

    DARPA’s website says it has always held to a singular mission of making investments in breakthrough technologies for national security. What does a nuclear-powered spaceship have to do with national security? The military’s perspective was hinted at by General James Dickinson, a US Space Command officer, in his testimony before Congress in April 2021.

    He said that “Beijing is seeking space superiority through space attack systems” and mentioned intelligence gathered on the Shijian-17, a Chinese satellite fitted with a robotic arm that could be used for “grappling other satellites.” That may sound like a ridiculous stretch, but it was enough get a go-ahead for a nuclear spaceship.

    And the apparent concern regarding hypothetical threats has continued. The purpose of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project, stated in its environmental assessment, was to “provide space-based assets to deter strategic attacks by adversaries.” Dickinson’s worries about China were quoted in there as well.

    “Let’s say you have a time-critical mission where you need to quickly go from A to B in cislunar space or you need to keep an eye on another country that is doing something near or around the Moon, and you need to move in very fast. With a platform like DRACO, you can do that,” said DARPA’s Dodson.

    Two years after DARPA stepped in, the preliminary design phase was completed, and Lockheed won a half-billion-dollar contract to build DRACO. But DARPA wasn’t the only one paying. NASA chipped in as well. The two agencies made DRACO a joint project and split the bill 50-50.

•  "After more than 60 years of development, here is the nuclear engine that is set to go to Mars with NASA."--Farmingdale Observer (2025).

    For decades, NASA has been working on an engine that is faster and more efficient than traditional chemical propulsion. One of the most serious avenues is nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP). How does this work? Heat a gas, usually hydrogen, in a nuclear reactor, then expel it at high speed to generate a much more powerful thrust. With this system, Mars could be reached in just 45 days. General Atomics, a key player in nuclear research, has just announced a major breakthrough in this technology. Scott Forney, President of GA-EMS, is delighted with the latest tests: We are very encouraged by these positive results proving that the fuel can survive these operating conditions, bringing us closer to the realisation of safe and reliable nuclear thermal propulsion for cislunar and deep space missions.

    The DRACO programme, piloted by NASA and DARPA, plans to demonstrate an NTP engine as early as 2027. But the challenges remain: ultra-resistant materials, heat management in space and, above all, astronaut safety in the face of an on-board nuclear reactor. Meanwhile, SpaceX continues to make progress on the chemical propulsion front with its Starship rocket, designed for interplanetary missions. Elon Musk still has a head start on reusable launchers, but if nuclear propulsion becomes viable, he could well find himself facing unexpected competition. What’s more, with the rise of China, which is aiming for a manned mission to Mars by 2033, the duel with the United States looks set to be fierce. And this time, it’s hard to predict who will get there first.