Article: Is Your Church A Sitting Duck?

From Shooting News Weekly: "Hope Isn’t a Plan: Is Your Church a Sitting Duck?" My church is. But I'm old enough to remember when churches didn't need church security teams. John Wilder touches on that era in his piece, "How To Break A Society, Part I." He begins:

    Picture this:  I leave my keys in the truck overnight.  Windows down.  Wallet on the dash.  Next morning?  Still there.  Nothing missing, though a cat might have explored an empty burger wrapper.  No viral TikTok™ of some “youth” doing donuts in my F-150®.

    Absurd?  No.

    And not because Big Brother has cameras up the backside of every squirrel, but because back in the day people just didn’t do that crap.  The neighbors would have known who did it.  Moms would have heard about it at church, and the father of the kid would have heard about it from his boss.

    Shame, accountability, and consequences work better than ankle monitors.

    That was the power of societal norms.  Invisible fences made of “What will people think?”  And the Founding Fathers knew it.  They told us so.

    Benjamin Franklin walked out of the Constitutional Convention and some lady asked what they’d given us. “A republic,” he said, “if you can keep it.” Not “if the government keeps it for you.” Not “if we pass enough laws.” If you can keep it.

    John Adams was even blunter in 1798: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

    They weren’t kidding.    

But liberals felt stifled and had to tear the whole thing down. Read the whole thing. 

The Daily Mail's Reporting On The Cartel Violence In Mexico

This appears to be a link with periodic updates. In the past, it was not uncommon to have a cartel leader killed and for the cartel to splinter, increasing the violence as the splinter groups fought one another and other cartels for control. 

Step-By-Step Reloading By Tom McHale

Tom McHale is a professional gun writer, author of a multitude of articles on all aspects of shooting, as well as several books including The Practical Guide To Reloading Ammunition. I came across a series of detailed articles on reloading at American Handgunner magazine (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) but it only covered collecting the brass, preparing the brass, and the resizing the case and expanding the case mouth. In trying to find additional parts of that series, I came across the series of articles on the steps to reloading that he had written for Guns America. 

Part 1: Want to Reload Your Own Ammo? Basic Questions to Consider

Part 2: The Reloading Process

Part 3: The Gear You’ll Need and What It’ll Cost You

Part 4: Brass Cleaning and Preparation to Load

Part 5: Brass Resizing

Part 6: Trimming Cartridge Cases

Part 7: Repriming the Cartridge Case

Part 8: Powder, Propellants, and Pressure

Part 9: All About Primers

Part 10: Projectiles: Materials, Weights, and Styles

Part 11: Seating and Crimping Bullets

Part 12: To Crimp or not to Crimp

Part 13: Final Inspection and Packaging Tips

Civilization Continues To Retreat

In the recent past, Western civilization had strong enough influence so that even if a country wasn't directly under Western rule the native culture would have submitted to Western influence. But with Western civilization in full retreat, the native cultures are reasserting themselves. I hope the Leftist feel proud about what they have done. From Breitbart: "Taliban OKs Slavery, Domestic Violence in Updated Criminal Code."

    Taliban “supreme leader” Hibatullah Akhundzada recently approved a novel criminal code, multiple outlets reported this week, that dramatically expands the legal ability for men to physically abuse women and children and provides for the creation of a formal “slave” class in the country.

[snip]

    According to the Times of India, the latest affront to human rights from the Taliban is the publication of a 90-page criminal code, issued as an edict recently, likely in late January. No evidence suggests any public participation in the drafting of the code or legislative debate by certified lawmakers prior to its imposition.

    Citing the British outlet The Independent, the Indian newspaper noted that the code includes the creation of “free” and “slave” categories of Afghanis and different legal punishments for criminals in each category. While it does not explicitly list all women in the country as “slaves,” certain provisions in the criminal code for women appear to treat them as separate from free citizens.

    The code reportedly states explicitly that men can beat women and children in their homes, but only if they do not break their bones or cause extreme bodily harm. The code also effectively strips women of the right to accuse men of extreme physical abuse, as it both requires and bans women from showing the parts of their bodies harmed.

    “They [women] are required to prove they have suffered serious bodily harm by showing their wounds to the judge, while at the same time being required to remain fully covered,” the Independent explained. “They are also required to be accompanied to the court by their husband or male chaperone (mahram) — even though the majority of offenders in such cases are the husbands themselves.”

In the not so distant future, we may see similar before and after pictures of Berlin, Paris, or London. And it will largely be because of what were called, when I was younger, "bleeding heart liberals" who bought the Leftist lies about all cultures being equal and suffered from pathological altruism. 

Related: 

Serpentza discusses the trajectory of South Africa after black/communist rule:

VIDEO: "Decolonization in Action - They Ruined my Country!"
serpentza (29 min.)

An Epstein In The Making

From Breitbart: "Senior Class President Charged with 300 Felonies for Allegedly Running Sextortion Scheme in Pennsylvania High School." 

    Zachariah Abraham Meyers, an 18-year-old senior at the local high school in Peters Township, a semi-rural town of 23,000 residents 15 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, faces 304 charges ranging from sexual exploitation of and sexual abuse of children to unlawful contact with minors and wiretap law violations, local news outlets reported over the weekend. 

[snip]

    Police accuse Meyers of targeting fellow students ranging from ages 14-17 at Peters Township High School across multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat and TikTok. Some 1,200 students in grades 9-12 attend the school.

    In one case, authorities allege that Meyers, who is listed as a varsity member of the school’s volleyball team, directed a juvenile to have sexual intercourse with two adult men, record video inside a gym locker room, and then send those videos to an account. 

Gun & Prepping News #69

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

• Owning a gun--still hundreds of times safer than owning a swimming pool: "Accidental Shooting Statistics"--Ammo Land. Quick highlights:

• In 2024, 1% (438) of all firearm-related deaths (41,656) were due to accidental shootings.
• 30% (438) of the 1,457 unintentional firearm-related injuries in 2024 were fatal.
• There is an average of 114 accidental gun deaths among children and adolescents annually.
• Accidental shootings account for 0.004% of all injuries leading to hospital visits.

• "Does the ‘3-3-3 Rule’ Hold Up for Civilian Self-Defense?"--Guns America. The 3-3-3 rule--that gun fights happen within 3 feet, in 3 seconds, with 3 rounds being fired--is drawn from an FBI study of shooting incidents involving police officers. For the civilian it appears that the average is closer to 9 feet, in 6 seconds, with 4 shots fired.
• "Home Invasion! Grab The Defensive Rifle- Dead Trigger….What The Hell Do You Do Now??"--Shooting Performance. The answer is in the sub-title: "The Why’s and How’s of Transitioning to a Secondary Weapon." From the lede:

What the heck is a dead trigger?  Let’s define that term first:  Anytime you pull the trigger and expect it to go bang, and it doesn’t, that is a dead trigger.  If you are in a situation like the one described in the title of this article, it really doesn’t matter why the rifle didn’t go bang, just that you have a response when it does.  The article that follows discusses your options. 

The reasons for a dead trigger might be something simple like the rifle wasn't made ready in the first instance or ran out of ammo, but could also be due to some sort of malfunction. The article discusses why a weapon transition to a handgun is preferable at short combat distances to trying to troubleshoot the rifle; how to perform a weapon transition; getting the rifle back into action; and suggestions as to (safely) training for a dead trigger.

• "Your Mind is Your Weapon: Mastering Situational Awareness"--Taurus USA.  The author begins:

    The most important lesson I learned and taught as a firearms instructor for the CIA is that your mind is your primary weapon. Weapons evolve, systems come and go, but your ability to assess and respond to a threat ultimately determines your survival. A well-made firearm can be a powerful equalizer, but effectiveness depends on strategy and restraint – knowing  when to reveal your strengths and when to keep them concealed.

    Carrying a concealed weapon is not just about having the right firearm; it’s about being able to transition instantly from a passive state to full combat readiness. Success in a critical moment relies on both mental awareness and physical capability. The way you carry, conceal and present your firearm when a threat arises is determined by your training and skill. Simply owning a good gun is never enough. 

Good tips for learning and maintaining situational awareness and understanding when a threat arises. Be sure to check it out. 

• For those using firearms with manual safeties: "The Mechanical Safety:  Use it or take the gamble."--Paul Howe. He begins:

While training with more and more law enforcement agencies, I have found that a potentially dangerous practice has been implemented into their SOP’s. This being the ignoring of the weapon manual safety. Many tactical teams are moving from the Last Covered and Concealed (LCC) position to the breach point in a linear formation with a straight finger and the weapon on fire. Further, they conduct a great deal of interior movement and room clearing with the weapon on fire and a straight finger. 

The rest of the article goes over why you need to use the safety, the dangers to not using safeties, and why he thinks law enforcement got away from training to use safeties. 

• Some firearms history: "StG 45(M): The Last Sturmgewehr"--The Armory Life.  This used a roller delayed blowback action and is the predecessor to the CETME Model C and, subsequently, the HK-91 and all subsequent roller delayed firearms manufactured by HK. This is a long and detailed article, but worth your time. 
• "Your First Suppressor: A Short(ish) Guide for First-Time Buyers"--The Truth About Guns. A look at some suppressors for ARs, 9mm, and rimfire weapons.
• Of course, you'll want some ammo to go with that new suppressor: "Pairing Your Suppressor With The Right Subsonic Ammo"--The Truth About Guns. Some suggestions on subsonic ammo in 9mm, .300 BLK, .22 LR, .45 ACP, .45-70, and .458 SOCOM.
• Speaking of handgun ammo: "Brink’s U.S. Selects Liberty Ammunition for Executive Protection"--The Truth About Guns. Specifically, the 9mm Spike load which the article describes as "55-grain, all-copper projectile features an integral spike design that enables deep penetration through barriers while creating a permanent wound channel—critical capabilities when threats may involve vehicle glass, heavy clothing, or intermediate obstacles." The round is supposed to have 1,900 feet per second muzzle velocity giving 441 foot-pounds of energy on target. 
• And some more on ammo: "Here’s Why the .223 Remington Is the Most Underrated Deer Cartridge"--Outdoor Life. By "deer" the author is probably meaning whitetail.  An excerpt:

The .223 is inherently accurate, ammo is affordable, and modern purpose-built bullets have elevated its effectiveness even further. The key here is that the .223 is fun and affordable to shoot. So deer hunters preparing for the season have no excuse to not practice shooting from field positions.

As far as the ammo to use for hunting, the author recommends "heavier tipped, lead-core bullets that offer dramatic expansion that is controlled by a thicker jacket. These offer the expansion that causes larger wound cavities but will often penetrate deeply enough to pass through a deer entirely," specifically mentioning the 69-grain Sierra GameKing. However, he notes that "[q]uality bullets in the 69- to 80-grain range are more than capable of" providing the necessary 10 to 12 inches of penetration needed to take whitetail deer.

• Related:  "Best 223 for Deer Hunting: Taking Down Whitetails with 22-Caliber Bullets"--Ammo Land.

• And for the deadliest game: "223/5.56 Duty/Defense Ammunition Selection"--Tactical Anatomy. After discussion of the failures of different types of ammunition and why, even with rifles, penetration is king, the author concludes:

    The clear answer is that for general patrol/defensive rifle duty, we want a round that both expands well and penetrates deeply, while maintaining reliable functionality and accuracy. This is the ideal.

    That being said, and no disrespect intended to any of the runners-up, my personal and professional 5.56 ammunition choices based on the recommendations of true experts like Dr. Roberts–and my own experience on live animals and tissue simulants–tend to run along the lines of Federal TRU 55/62gr bonded, Black Hills/Nosler Partition 65 gr, and Winchester JSP 64 gr. These rounds will defeat intermediate barriers and will penetrate deeply through tissue, and will work accurately in barrels from 1:7 through 1:10. All of these rounds have an excellent record in OIS’s over many, many years, and as such I have no reservation in recommending them. 

• And if you want something for hunting that is light recoiling but believe that .223 is too small or under powered, there is this: "Best 243 Ammo for Deer & Other Hunts"--The Shooter's Log. 
• "CCW Range Bag Essentials: What You Need to Train With Your Carry Pistol"--Ammo Land. The author selected the Propper Bail Out Bag to carry his stuff, and then describes what he carries and where he stows it in the bag. (BTW, it is $9 dollars less to order from Propper over Amazon, but Amazon offers "free" shipping--so it might be a wash when all is said and done).
• And once you get to the range: "Five Drills for Beginners at the Range"--Ammo Land. The author, Travis Pike, explains:

    A drill is a shooting exercise that prescribes nearly every element of your shooting. It describes your distance, your accuracy standards, the time you have to accomplish the drill, how many rounds are fired, and more. Most importantly, it has a time and accuracy standard.

    A time and accuracy standard gives you a goal to meet. If you can’t meet these goals, you’ll be able to identify your weaknesses and, hopefully, improve your shooting skills continually. Shooters should never dive too deep or too fast. Attempting the FAST Drill as a new shooter can be a recipe for disaster. 

• "Daniel Defense H9 9mm: The Hudson Concept, Perfected"--The Truth About Guns.  The Hudson pistol was one that featured a very low bore axis by lowering the recoil spring assembly so it was ahead of the trigger guard. The original design and execution had issues. But according to this review, Daniel Defense has cleaned it up and has a workable pistol. MSRP is $999 but the street price is higher--closer to $1,300, the author writes.
• "Securing Backyard Fences"--Active Response Training.  Greg Ellifritz writes:

    In my police days, it was very common to see heroin addicts cruising around wealthy residential neighborhoods looking for places to burglarize in the daytime when most residents were at work.

    Their most common MO was to find an attractive house and then knock on the door. If someone answers, they play it off by pretending that they are looking for someone.

[snip]

    If they didn’t get an answer, they would go around to the back of the house where fewer people could see them,  They would then break in to the house via a back door or window.

    I never saw one of those burglaries happen to a residence with a locked back fence. 

• "Locked Down. Rounded Up. Warehoused. The Rise of America’s Concentration Camps"--SHTF Plan. From the article:

    In 2021, amid a global pandemic, warnings that the federal government might repurpose warehouses into detention facilities on American soil were dismissed as speculative, alarmist, or even conspiratorial.

    Five years later, what was speculation is a blueprint for locking up whoever the government chooses to target.

    According to investigative reports, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are actively purchasing warehouses, factories, and industrial buildings across the country for use as detention centers—often with little public notice, minimal oversight, and virtually no accountability. 

We saw this happen in Australia to those who refused to take the vax, and many elites here in the United States expressed a wish that those who refused the vax be rounded up and imprisoned, so this seems likely if there is a real pandemic. 

• "Wheat Grinders 101"--Blue Collar Prepping. While you can use whole wheat corns, they will be more useful ground into flour as you need it (wheat can store for decades, but flour only for months). This article discusses the three basic types of grinders--manual, electric, and hybrid--as well as some advice on accessories and using the grinders. 
• "Power Outage? What Size Generator for a Freezer (And How Long to Run It)"--Modern Survival Blog. From the article:

Most chest freezers use 80–150 running watts, but need 600–1,200 starting watts for a brief moment when the compressor turns on. A 1,000-watt generator or larger is usually enough to run a freezer. If running both a refrigerator and freezer, a 2,000-watt inverter generator provides comfortable capacity.

And:

 You don’t need to run a generator continuously. A full chest freezer can stay frozen 24–48 hours without power. During an outage, many people run a generator about 1 hour every 8–12 hours to maintain safe freezer temperatures. Use a thermometer and keep food below 32°F (0°C).

The goal is to cool the freezer back down before food temperatures rise above freezing.

• "All Tied Up: Basic Survival Camping Knots"--Gat Daily.  It goes over the following:

• Basic Knot Lingo
• Square Knot (Reef Knot)
• Bowline Knot
• Jam Knot (Canadian Jam Knot)
• Clove Hitch 

More importantly, and unlike many other articles or books on knots, it also tells you what each knot can be used for.

•  And from Survival Blog: "More Inflation Ahead: At Best, Plan on Semi-Retirement." Congress has spent so much of the Social Security Trust Fund as a backstop to its other profligate spending that there is not nearly enough money coming in to maintain current payouts. So the government will likely resort to inflating itself out of debt, devaluing personal savings and investments. Consequently, Rawles warns:

... Inflation will deeply degrade the purchasing power of savings, annuities, stocks, mutual funds, CDs, bonds, ETFs, pension funds, and Social Security payments. Even the best contrarian hedge fund won’t fully protect you when the dollar itself is wiped out. Day-to-day living will soon become very expensive. So, at best, we need to plan on semi-retirement in the latter decades of our lives.  ... 

I suspect that if it weren't for the massive fraud of which we are barely scratching the surface, there would probably be plenty of money for Social Security. But when some elderly immigrant steps of the boat and immediately races to the Social Security office, it becomes unsustainable. 

• "Build a brick rocket stove for emergency water purification"--Survival Common Sense. 
• But you need to use the right materials: "Build a brick rocket stove: Is it safe to use concrete blocks?"--Survival Common Sense. The short answer is that you will probably be okay using concrete blocks, but they will probably erode over time. So, to make something that will last long term, use the firebricks.
• "The Ultimate First Aid Supplies List: Be Ready for Anything"--More Than Just Surviving.  This is not about a first aid kit for traveling or hiking, but something at home intended to handle a larger variety of problems. The author comments:

This list is broken down into two major sections: medications to stock, and situation specific kits you would ideally keep in your home. Both these sections then have particular subsections in them, though because it’s only two main sections, we’ve decided to just number these subsections straight through as though they were in just one group. If you’ve got a little bit of everything from each of the subsections, I’d say you’re pretty set. Certainly pick and choose what you feel is best to have for your own peace of mind at home. As I said, I know not everyone will want to keep everything here in stock (though I will be aiming for hitting as many items on this list personally), I just wanted to make sure this list was as comprehensive as possible so that in case you’re redoing your traveling first aid kit, or your at home first aid kit, you can look over this list and know you probably haven’t missed much if you’ve got all you want off of this behemoth. 

The list includes not just what to buy but what it is used for. 

• "Tucker Carlson stunned as ex-Bush official reveals US has doomsday bunkers for elites"--Daily Mail. This 2025 article relates:

    A former Bush administration official has made a shocking claim that the US government is secretly preparing for a mass extinction event on Earth. 

    Catherine Austin Fitts, who was the US Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing, joined Tucker Carlson on his podcast this week, saying she found $21 trillion in unaccounted funds was diverted to covert projects between 1998 and 2015.

    'One of the things I've looked at in the process of looking at where all this money is going is the underground base, city infrastructure and transportation system that's been built,' Fitts said.

It's interesting speculation, but the more likely explanation is that the missing money went to fraudulent payouts. 

The Great Replacement: 8% Of Nicaragua Invaded U.S. Under Biden

 From Fox News: "DHS says 8% of Nicaragua's entire population illegally entered US under Biden." The population of Nicaragua was approximately 6.6 million in 2020, meaning approximately 528,000 came to the U.S. ... that we know of. DHS says that, additionally, 7% of Cuba, 6% of Haiti, and 5% of Honduras came to the U.S. during the same time period. Cuba population in 2020 was approximately 11.2 million; that of Haiti was also around 11.2 million; and Honduras' population was 10.1 million. That means some 784,000 came into the U.S. from Cuba; 672,000 from Haiti; and 505,000 from Honduras. The total from just these four countries alone, then, was roughly 2.5 million people ... that we know of. That is more than the entire population of the state of Nebraska. 

    Comparing this to other countries, this number of people would be 3.6% of the total population of the UK,  3.6% of the population of France, and 2.9% of Germany. This is equal to 42% of the population of Denmark or roughly half of the population of Finland! In just 4 years from just 4 countries. 

Trump's Other Options Under The IEEPA

As I noted earlier this morning, the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs that the President had enacted pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), holding that the IEEPA did not authorize the President to enact tariffs. It is important to realize that, as one article put it, "[t]he court did not say the president lacks authority to impose tariffs. It said this law doesn’t authorize these tariffs." But, as I mentioned in my earlier post, the President has authority to enact tariffs under other laws. For instance, Pres. Trump has already imposed a new 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which "unilaterally impose up to 15% tariffs to remedy balance-of-payments issues or prevent 'imminent and significant' depreciation of the dollar." Moreover, "Section 301 of the 1974 law allows Greer to impose tariffs on countries with economic policies that are discriminatory against the US or in violation of trade agreements." So even though the Supreme Court's ruling eliminated the global 10% tariff that had been imposed under the IEEPA, it is already back up under another law. And authorization for tariffs shows up under other laws, according to the article:

    Other options available to the administration, but not cited at the press conference, include Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows tariffs to regulate imports on national security grounds following investigations by the Commerce Department, though duties are meant to apply only to individual economic sectors rather than entire countries; and Section 338 of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% if he finds “as a fact” that countries have imposed unreasonable charges, restrictions or otherwise discriminated against US imports. 

    Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, another option, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% above existing tariff rates on products that threaten “serious injury” to US manufacturers following an investigation by the US International Trade Commission. 

    And the elimination of the fentanyl-specific tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico may give rise to something more draconian than a simple tariff. Breitbart notes, for instance (bold in original):

    Here’s the thing the trade establishment doesn’t want to think about: IEEPA doesn’t just let the president regulate imports. It lets him prohibit them. And it lets him issue licenses as exceptions to that prohibition. Those aren’t implied powers or creative readings. They’re right there in the text of the law: the president may “prevent or prohibit” importation and may act “by means of instructions, licenses, or otherwise.”

    That language points to a mechanism that could reshape the global trade landscape even if every tariff the administration has imposed gets struck down. 

The author envisions a system whereby "Treasury offers to sell Import Authorization Certificates directly to the governments of countries running bilateral trade surpluses with the United States. The purchase price equals a percentage — 20 to 50 percent — of the country’s prior-year bilateral surplus. The foreign government pays Treasury. That’s the transaction. There is no ambiguity about who is writing the check." 

    The real question is why previous presidents did not use these powers to prevent the offshoring of American manufacturing.  

Weekend Reading #44

Longer and more involved reading:

• Jon Low has a new Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter.  He includes some thoughts from John Murphy on how dealing with terrorists is different from other criminal threats:

     "Get this straight in your head.  Terrorists are not criminals out to support their drug habit, or a drunken bully looking to throw you a beat down.  This isn’t a parking lot dispute, a road rage incident or a conflict you can solve with de-escalation.  These are ideologically committed killers determined to use violence to achieve global religious/political change.  Killing as many as they can to maximize the terror impact of their acts is their goal.  Do NOT underestimate these people.  Take careful note not of just the mass beheadings that were once in vogue overseas, but the artful way they were staged and recorded, with high production values throughout.  That is highly evolved messaging leveraging modern technology with ancient terror tactics.  More recent attacks from various evil parties have even been “livestreamed” to an eager international audience.  Remember that dying for their cause is considered the ultimate reward.  They won’t be dissuaded and they won’t be bargained with.  They will be heavily armed and adequately trained for their task, which is to slaughter unarmed innocents to further undermine governmental authority.  Unlike your typical criminal crew, a few shots won’t send them into flight.  They’re on a mission."  

     "So, with that in mind, the rules change.  Back shoot them without hesitation or warning.  The cheaper the shot, the better.  To ensure there’s not a threat from behind as you move past their bodies, “anchor” shoot them through the brain and from a position of advantage.  While these methods of engagement are illegal and inappropriate for a criminal encounter and would likely see you charged with murder in that context, I suspect a citizen acting this way against a terrorist threat will be given a pass.  (Differentiating between the two, at that time could be difficult.  Choose wisely.)  This will essentially be participating in no notice infantry combat in your hometown."   

While he suspects that a citizen acting this way against a terrorist threat will be given a pass, I have my reservations--particularly if this were to occur in a Democrat controlled jurisdiction. To them, you would not be killing a terrorist, but an ally. Moving on, commenting on an article encouraging women to take responsibility for their safety, Jon adds:

     In the real world, no one is coming to your rescue, not the bystanders, not the police, not even your friends and relatives who are with you.  I know this is a horrid depressing thought, but it's true.  Accept it and prepare accordingly.  Because gouging the bad guy's eyes is not something that you will do automatically, unless you have practiced, a lot.  The highly trained will not gouge and pull their hand out.  Rather, they will drive their fingers through the eyes into the brain, curl their fingers to grab the cheek bones from the inside, and drive the bad guy's head to the ground, hard in order to crack the skull.  As Tim Larkin says, the ground is your best impact weapon, and it is always available, and gravity is always helping you.   

Jon has a lot more, so be sure to check out his newsletter. 

• Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump. His linkage includes, but is not limited to, cover and concealment around vehicles, examining your target to try and analyze shooting errors, levels of eye contact (and what they mean),  info on the AK and shooting one, advantages and disadvantages to having a weapon mounted light on a concealed carry pistol, and advice as to concealed carry belts. I'm glad that the author mentions that is possible to have too stiff of a belt. Given my experience with several gun belts with the stiffened cores, I've gone back to just wearing a good leather belt. 

    And special mention goes to the video "Crazy Oakland Pawn Shop Gunfight Caught on Camera" where a group of thugs is admitted through a locking security door, then tried to rob the place. When the owners of the pawn shop got weapons and start shooting, the criminals turned to hightail it out of the place ... but couldn't because the security door had locked behind them. Consequently, they feel obliged to enter into a gun battle with the owners of the pawn shop in which at least one of the owners is wounded. During the gun battle, the criminals found at least one weapon that the pawnshop owners had stashed, fully loaded, in the event of a break in. I think that the primary lesson here is that sometimes it is better to give criminals an opportunity to flee than risk a prolonged fight.

• "A Polar Bear Tried to Eat My Neighbor — and Other Close Calls With Nanuq in Alaska’s High Arctic"--Outdoor Life. 

During the time we called Alaska’s North Slope home, from 1990 to 1997, Native hunters killed approximately 110 polar bears annually in Alaska, with most being taken in the dark winter months. Male polar bears are active throughout the winter, unlike pregnant females that seek dens to enter their deep winter sleep and give birth. That year in Point Lay, the pack ice created an open lead very near shore. Seals hauled out on the edges of the open water. During winter in the Arctic, where there are seals, polar bears will be nearby. 

• "A City Cast in Concrete, Trapped Under Unbearable Heat"--The MIT Press Reader.  How rapid urbanization and loss of green space turned Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, into an unbearable heat island.

In a collaboration between Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and the University of Tsukuba in Japan, researchers used LANDSAT data to examine surface temperatures in Colombo at different moments during the decades-long process of rapid urbanization. Using temperature measurements from 1997, 2007, and 2017, the study tells the story of a cooler city by the sea, and how it went from a pleasant 25–27°C (77-80.6°F) to a staggering 31°C (87.8°F), or more. The heat maps created by the authors for 1997 are dominated by calming hues of green, but by 2017, a sprawling fungus of red heat spreads its tendrils in every direction. The old-timers weren’t just being nostalgic; in their time, it would indeed have been much, much cooler. 

• "Most normal matter in the universe isn’t found in planets, stars or galaxies – an astronomer explains where it’s distributed"--The Conversation. 

In the new study, published in June 2025, a team of astronomers from Caltech and the Harvard Center for Astrophysics studied 69 fast radio bursts using an array of 110 radio telescopes in California. The team found that 76% of the universe’s normal matter lies in the space between galaxies, with another 15% in galaxy halos – the area surrounding the visible stars in a galaxy – and the remaining 9% in stars and cold gas within galaxies.

Turning Elections Into Existential Threats

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under the Obama Regime, has laid out the Democrats' plan for when they return to power, and it can be summed up in one word: revenge. 

    Rice made it clear that any company in any industry that accommodated the Trump administration is going to feel the wrath of the Democrats. Big tech, media, universities, law firms — all of them.  "There will be an accountability agenda," she warned.

    She got specific. Companies, she said, should already be preparing for investigations to come. "They better preserve their documents. They better be ready for subpoenas. If they've done something wrong, they'll be held accountable."

    She offered a small olive branch to those who stayed on the “right” side of things: "If they haven't broken the law, good for them. If they've done the right things, good for them. That also will be noted and remembered."

    But the bottom line was unmistakable. "This is not going to be an instance of, you know, forgive and forget… the damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and to our national interest," Rice said.

 This is a big step down the road to civil war. 

SCOTUS Sides With Deep State On Tariffs

One of the most effective tools Trump has used in negotiating with foreign powers--including returning jobs to the U.S.--has been the imposition of tariffs. But, as NBC reports, "Supreme Court strikes down most of Trump's tariffs in a major blow to the president." The ruling only struck down the tariffs imposed by Trump pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), with the majority holding that the IEEPA did not grant the power to impose tariffs. However, tariffs under other laws have been allowed to stand. Of course, now everyone that paid the tariffs wants their money back and who knows how that is going to impact the treasury. There are, however, plenty of other statutes under which the President could impose tariffs. 

Aliens and Trolling

Last week, Barack Obama stated that aliens (the extraterrestrial kind) were real and then, within a day or two, walked back his comment by suggesting that it was statistically likely they existed given the size of the universe. Trump then interjected himself into the issue by suggesting that Obama had broken secrecy laws. From the New York Post:

    “He gave classified information, he’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

    “I don’t know if they’re real or not, but I can tell you he gave classified information.”

    “He made a big mistake,” Trump went on. “He took it out of classified information. No, I don’t have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it.” 

 [snip]

    Trump has claimed that presidents have the power to declassify anything and suggested he could spare Obama by exercising that power.

    “I may get him out of trouble by declassifying,” Trump said. 

 And, true to his word, Trump ordered the disclosure of files on UFOs and UAPs:

“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.

I wouldn't expect much in the way of bombshell evidence. If there were aliens and we had some of their technology or dealings with them, it will be withheld or redacted on national security grounds; and if there aren't aliens but the reports might reveal secret projects or methods of monitoring aircraft (or submersible craft) those will also be withheld or redacted on national security grounds. In any event, what we get will be a sanitized version of incidents just like Project Bluebook, except updated. For instance, they might admit that sightings of mysterious "triangular" UFOs were actually stealth aircraft prior to the existence of those aircraft being publicly acknowledged.  

    Today's Anonymous Conservative news brief has more about this issue, including comments from other officials, if you are interested.  

Not As Sexy As Guns But Just As Important

If you are a student of history, you are likely aware that until fairly recently, most wartime casualties were caused by dysentery due to poor hygiene and waste management. The same issues will show up after a major disaster if infrastructure is not timely restored. The recent sewage spill in D.C. is just an example of what could happen if infrastructure were destroyed due to a disaster or war. The D.C. area was fortunate that this occurred during an extreme cold snap because the ice on the Potomac River slowed the spread of the spill. It would have been a much different situation in summer.

    In "Sanitation: The Often Overlooked Necessity" from The Prepper Journal, the author explains:

    ... Without proper sanitation, a person who has food, water and a secure shelter can still perish.

    There are a number of aspects for proper sanitation that any prepper needs to consider. The simplest items for something like a Bug Out Bag can include hand sanitizing liquid, bleach wipes, water purification pills and an instant use purifier like a LifeStraw.

    Benzalconium wipes that aren’t expired are guaranteed to kill many severe viruses that average household disinfectants can’t touch, so having a supply of those for cuts is going to give you an edge that alcohol swabs can’t provide. A roll of toilet paper is also a must and for ladies, a supply of feminine hygiene products, in case that time coincides with the end times. 

But the article goes beyond bugging out:

    A simple bucket can become your best friend in a survival scenario. Using a toilet without being able to flush can lead to serious health concerns, especially if multiple people are using it. As it fills, the amount of germs becoming airborne increases. This is not safe at all. Having a plan can change that.

    Using a bucket gives you the opportunity to throw your waste in an area outside of your shelter. Rather than using the bucket itself, it is far better to keep a box of garbage bags available to line the bucket. It will make disposal easier and prevent accidental spills. A bucket filled with garbage bags, soap and toilet paper rolls is easy to tuck away in a closet and it will make a drastic difference in your ability to maintain sanitary conditions.

There's more, so be sure to read the whole thing.

Diversity is a Strength: Potomac Sewage Spill

As you probably already know, about 243.5 million gallons of raw sewage have poured into the Potomac since a January 19 sewer line rupture, according to DC Water, the utility in charge of the line. 

    I know others are pointing out DC Water's commitment to diversity, equity and "inclusion" but I thought I would throw this in from DC Water's website, bragging: "At DC Water, we just don’t 'do' diversity. Our mission is to reflect diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our how the Authority conducts its business." And a couple articles about how committed DC Water was to DEI:

• "DC Water’s CEO Oversaw $520 Million In DEI Contracts — And The Biggest Sewage Spill In US History"--Daily Caller. DC Water CEO David Gadis came to DC Water after serving "as executive vice president of Veolia North America and CEO of Veolia Water Indianapolis — the utility’s first black CEO and the first black executive to lead a major Indianapolis utility, according to his bio." And what did he do there? Apparently oversaw the coverup of high lead levels in the water for Flint, Michigan, according to the article. 
• "Watch: DC Water Manager Admitted Deciding Agency Had Too Many Whites - DEI Fixed That But Also Covered DC in 240 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage"--Western Journal.  Gadis is now blaming the spill on aging infrastructure, but back in 2022--four years after he was put in charge of the utility--his primary concern was that there were not enough POC and women in management positions, a situation he was working to change. 

Vehicular and Gun Attack on White Family--The Rest of the Story

Perusing Western Rifle Shooter's Association this morning, I came across a citation to a post from Tactical Hermit about an incident in Michigan where a black man had run down a family with his car and then shot and killed a three year old. The Tactical Hermit described the incident as "unreported" and that seems to be largely true. We know if the races had been reversed, every major media outlet would have been screaming to high heaven about it and armies of talking heads would have been discussing "systemic racism" and the like. But coverage seems to be limited to local reporting or relegated to the figurative back pages of national outlets if reported at all.

    CBS News - Detroit reported yesterday:

    A 21-year-old Delta Township, Michigan, man is accused of killing a child and injuring three adults after he hit a family with his vehicle who was out for a walk and then fired a weapon, authorities said.   

    On Tuesday, Alexander Lamar Banks Jr. was charged with homicide, four counts of felony firearm, three counts of assault with intent to murder, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent and possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle. 

    Eaton County deputies say that a family was out for a walk around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 near Green Meadows and Farmstead Lane in Delta Township when a vehicle struck the family. The driver then got out of his vehicle and fired numerous shots toward them, according to authorities. A bystander who tried to help was also attacked and seriously injured, deputies said. 

    A suspect was located by deputies and taken into custody with the help of the Michigan State Police. 

    A 3-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene, deputies said. 

    A 72-year-old woman was taken to an area hospital, where she was listed in critical condition, authorities said. A 37-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman were also hospitalized.    

No description of the offender or motive. WILX-10 News has more details in its article, also from yesterday, entitled: "Delta Twp. shooting suspect told police he attacked family because he received threats online, court records say." Don't let the headline mislead you--Banks did not receive any threats from his victims. Instead, he supposedly received anonymous instructions that he had to kill someone to save his family; he is, consequently, undergoing a competency evaluation. The article also has more information about the attack:

    Police have reviewed doorbell footage from a neighbor’s home that shows Banks in a gray sedan intentionally driving into the family before getting out with a 12-gauge shotgun and opening fire, according to the probable cause affidavit.

    The document says Banks was seen running from the car and taking the shotgun out of a backpack. He then returned to the backpack and reloaded the gun and began firing again.

    He also began punching the girl’s parents and grabbed the mother by her hair “and began pulling it as if he was trying to break her neck,” according to the affidavit.

    Banks then allegedly hit the 72-year-old woman with a shotgun, according to the documents. A sheriff’s deputy found a 12-gauge shotgun in the front yard and multiple spent shotgun shells were found at the scene.

[snip]

    The affidavit says Banks admitted to police that he tried to intentionally hit the family. He told investigators that he had been receiving threats online telling him “he had to kill someone to save his family,” the affidavit says.

    He told police he filled a backpack with shotgun shells the day before the attack and took the shotgun from his father’s room and hid it in the garage. Then on Friday, he “took the backpack and shotgun and left the house in his father’s car,” the affidavit says.

    “He drove around the block in his neighborhood a couple times and saw a family walking down the street. Banks Jr. advised that he crashed into the family, intentionally trying to strike the male,” the document reads. “Banks Jr. advised that he got out of the vehicle, grabbed the shotgun, and began shooting at the family he just crashed into. He then began beating a male with the shotgun and then an older female who came running towards him. Banks Jr. said he dropped the shotgun and fled on foot.” 

E-Book: LDS Preparedness Manual

Prepping involves a lot of self-education on a wide variety of topics. The prepper often needs to be a true Renaissance Man or Woman. I have books on specific topics, but it also helps to have books that collect together a multitude of prepping topics to show how things fit together or remind you of items that you may have overlooked or not thought about.  

    One of these "generalist" prepping books is the the LDS Preparedness Manual (PDF) (Version 8.0 - 2012). I've linked to this book before, but to an earlier version. This 2012 edition is the latest version. It is also available through Amazon or from the publisher if you would prefer a bound version. Of you can print the PDF and put it in a 3-ring binder for easy reference.  

    I would note that although this volume indicates is the second volume ("Handbook 2") of a set: the first volume was intended for leaders of a church ward or stake (similar to a parish and diocese, respectively) whereas the second volume--the one linked to above--is for individuals and families. However, comparing the table of contents between the two, it appears that Handbook 1 and Handbook 2 cover many of the same topics.

    And speaking of topics, the Handbook 2 covers various topics:

• Why prepare?
• Mental and spiritual preparedness.
• Food storage--what to store and how to cook it (this is by far the bulk of the book)
• 72-Hour Kits and Bug-Out Kits
• Evacuation
• Communication
• Financial topics
• Storing medicines and what medicines to store.
• Defense.
• Heating, cooking and lighting.
• Clothing.
• Emergency shelter.
• Sanitation.
• Testing your preparations.
• Special considerations for babies and children.
• Articles and preparations for pandemics.
• Prepare for terrorist/nuclear attacks.
• Miscellaneous articles on various topics.  

At 500 pages, it is able to cover a lot of topics fairly well, and some topics to a great depth. For instance, the food storage section runs from page 44 to page 157 by itself. The article on "A High-Mobility 72 Hour Kit" is one of the best and most detailed explanations of what to pack and why for bugging out and organizing it in a easy way by layers: (1) your clothes and what to carry on your person; (2) a sling bag and its contents; (3) a small backpack (something the size of an assault pack) and what to carry in it; (4) individual weapons and tools; and (5) tools for your vehicle. And there is a detailed checklist of items to take for bugging out as well as things to do before you bug out. For staying at home, there is a detailed list of items to have on hand for everything from clothing to communications, important documents to entertainment and educational supplies, medicines, kitchen supplies, and more. 

    In such an expansive volume, there are a few sections that are a bit weak. Being a gun-guy and interested in self-defense, I tend to check out the articles or chapters pertaining to such topics. In this case I felt the two articles on defense and defensive firearms were underwhelming. The article on "Defense" was obviously written by someone that either (a) didn't know much about the topic or (b) didn't believe it appropriate to share useful information to the general public. The article on selecting preparedness firearms was better, but reminded me of Tappan's book on survival guns by recommending too many firearms for too many individual tasks. 

    The intended audience are member of the LDS Church and consequently there are references to scripture and teachings of past Church authorities. But the vast majority of the book is going to be useful to anyone interested in prepping. Certainly, it appears to be a valuable resource for anyone getting into prepping and has a lot of articles and checklists that would be useful to the experienced prepper. 

Fulfillment of the Georgia Guidestones?

From Mr. Nobody on X: In a short clip of an interview with Bill Gates where he had been discussing advances in AI. The interviewer asks: "Will we still need humans?" Answer: "Not for most things. We'll decide." 

White Papers Policy Insitute: Harvard Discriminating Against White Americans

From White Papers Policy Institute on X: 

    Harvard was so upset when told they couldn't racially discriminate they decided to be (more) vindictive and racially discriminate ONLY against White Americans. 

    They dropped admissions of Whites by 16%.

    Their own data shows in a merit system Whites would be 50% of the freshmen.

The reason this is important is that Harvard and a handful of other schools are the primary gateway to the top jobs in government, industry, law and finance. For instance, Alissa Heinerscheid, the idiot that decided to destroy Bud Light's brand by being "more inclusive", didn't get hired because of she was good at her job (obviously) but because she had graduated from the right schools, including Harvard. So if you manipulate who gets admitted to schools like Harvard, you are manipulating who gets to become the future leaders of the country. Harvard is working to ensure that white Americans are excluded from the future leadership of this country. 

Wilder: Memes and More Memes

 John Wilder has some memes he would like to share. Here is a taste:

 

New Zealand Trained Its Military To Take Out Christians

From Kurt Mahlburg on X: 

    The New Zealand Defence Force spent 2025 training soldiers to take out a fictional Christian terrorist group — on a map of their own country.

    None of NZ's 23 listed terrorist orgs are Christian.

    They say no offence was intended.    

The Centrist has more details: 

    Training materials circulating online indicate that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) recently conducted a training exercise using a fictional internal security scenario set in a fictional country referred to as “DRM,” which closely resembles New Zealand’s South Island. 

    According to the documents discussed by women’s and girls’ rights advocate Penny Marie, the exercise was conducted at Burnham Military Camp and was in use within the past several weeks. 

    The material appears to form part of standard military planning training, including operational orders at company and platoon level.

    The scenario describes political instability following a referendum and constitutional change, including secession, the formation of an interim government, and subsequent civil unrest involving multiple armed factions.

    One of the armed groups described in the fictional scenario is called the Visayan People’s Front (VPF). Penny Marie states that the documents characterise the VPF as having emerged from Christian communities opposing Islamisation within the fictional state. 

    Within the scenario, the group is described as seeking the creation of a separate Christian state, being hostile toward a Muslim immigrant community, engaging in activities such as protests, intimidation, weapons smuggling, and attacks on security forces, and attempting to influence indigenous populations within the scenario. 

 The exercise also includes Islamic extremist groups, but the issue is "[p]ublicly available information shows that New Zealand currently lists 23 designated terrorist entities, none of which are Christian organisations," so why did they make the Christians the bad guys?

Obama Walks Backs Comments On Aliens

Just The News relates that "Former President Barack Obama said Monday that recent comments he made appearing to confirm the existence of aliens were made 'in the spirit of the speed round.'"

"Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us," he said, according to the BBC. "Really!" 

Earlier he had bluntly and clearly said that they were real and now he says he saw no evidence they had contacted us. Not a complete denial. 

Secret Combinations Everywhere

    Adam Smith famously observed: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” But the same can be said of any group of people desiring power or money. 

    The Fandom Pulse recently published a piece entitled "RUMOR: D&D 6th Edition Reboot Incoming As Hasbro Scrambles To Save Dying Franchise" by Jon Del Arroz. I had watched his YouTube video on this article, but he either did not mention this or I missed it, but Vox Day pointed out this bit (bold added):

    RPG Pundit’s assessment of Wizards’ current design team was devastating: “You’ve got like they just hired another chick. Gez, I wish I remembered to have checked her name before starting this video. This woman, who is basically connected to young adult science fiction stuff, like basically the entire industry of publishing has been taken over by feminist women, millennial women who worked on young adult novels.”

    He described how this takeover occurred: “They took over the mainstream publishing and then, in turn, went on to only put their people everywhere, right? And now it’s being expanded to other areas. That’s what’s basically happened with fifth edition is that it became it it was taken over by YA publishing people right that were that are that are the same you know the the feminist intersectional trans bloggers right and uh vegans and all that they’re they’re a cabal they’re a sect and now they’ve expanded into here right and those people know nothing about anything right and they ruin everything they touch.”

In their minds, they are not ruining anything, but shifting it to its true purpose which is the corruption of the youth or worse .....

    We have seen it so many other organizations that it would be impossible to list the examples. Vox Day uses the general term "convergence" to describe how cabals get a foot in the door in an organization, and then assist others like them to be hired and help each other to be promoted (while conversely preventing others outside their group from being hired or promoted) with the ultimate goal being to alter the mission of the organization to advance the goals of the cabal. 

    We see these secret networks spring into action to support BLM riots or disrupt ICE enforcement.  

    We have seen these in churches. The "Lavender Mafia" in the Catholic Church, for instance, was the name given to the cabal of homosexual priests in the Catholic Church to recruit, advance, and protect their own members. 

    The fight over the Epstein documents is actually one over revealing secret cabals and networks of individuals that apparently assisted one another in various ways and bound together by grotesque practices or rites, possibly the modern day descendants of Frankism (see also here and here). 

    Our country is in serious moral peril and it is because of these hidden networks and conspiracies. 

Immense Reservoir Of Hydrogen In Earth's Core

 From Science News: "Earth’s core may hide dozens of oceans of hydrogen." The article begins:

    The oceans are the largest entity on Earth’s surface. All that blue, however, may be dwarfed by an immense reservoir of hydrogen concealed in the planet’s heart. Experiments indicate that enough hydrogen to form dozens of oceans of water may have been entombed in Earth’s core during its formation, researchers report February 10 in Nature Communications. Those chthonic reserves may influence processes on the planet’s surface.  

    Hydrogen does not exist as liquid water in the core, but it becomes water as it escapes upward into the mantle and reacts with oxygen, says geodynamicist Motohiko Murakami of ETH Zurich. “Oxygen is one of the most abundant mineral elements in the mantle.” 

Scientist Attempting To Debunk Havana Syndrome Gave Himself Brain Damage

 From the Daily Mail: "Scientist gives himself brain damage by testing secret audio [sic] weapon on himself in attempt to disprove 'Havana Syndrome'." 

    A scientist in Norway gave himself brain damage after testing an experimental weapon designed to disprove the existence of 'Havana Syndrome'.

    Working in a top–secret research project in 2024, the unidentified government scientist constructed a device capable of emitting powerful pulses of microwave radiation.

    The sceptical researcher tested the device on himself to prove that its effects would be harmless.

    However, according to the Washington Post, the researcher soon developed symptoms of the mysterious disease that has struck down diplomats around the world. 

More Bayonet Linkage

 Big Country Expat (BCE) apparently liked my recent post about bayonets for self defense (and a big thanks to him for the link). In his post--"AWOL Again, Shotguns and Bayonets, and a Crisis of the Spirit"--he delves into mounting bayonets on shotguns. As far as I know, Mossberg is the only company offering shotguns with bayonet mounts: the 590 Retrograde and the 590A1 Retrograde. However, BCE shows off a product from NcStar that provides a bayonet mount for other shotguns. Although the product description says it is for the Mossberg 500, BCE notes that it works with other shotguns and includes photographs of it on a tactical semi-auto shotgun with a Marine Corps bayonet. 

I was especially interested in his photographs because I saw a video recently where the host was not able to get some of the bayonets with thicker handles like the M9 and Marine Corps model to fit on the bayonet mount on his Mossberg 590--apparently it was just a bit too tight--and was going to use the M7 because it had a thinner handle. 

    BCE also discusses the shotgun a bit--a semi-auto model that is inexpensive ($500 at Palmetto State Armory currently) that has done well in durability tests. 

    Go to his article and check it out.

Fanatical Middle-Easterners Chase Down Women

From the Daily Mail: "Moment two female Israeli soldiers are rescued as they are chased by 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men." The Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel are opposed to actually lifting a finger to defend their country because it is contrary to their beliefs, but they have no problem with chasing the two women, fighting police, and rioting, because they thought the women were delivering draft notices. 

Illegal Alien Kills Georgia School Teacher In Auto Crash

From the New York Post: "Illegal immigrant allegedly kills Georgia school teacher in car crash while fleeing ICE agents." The article relates that "Oscar Vasquez Lopez, of Guatemala, has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the crash" that killed Dr. Linda Davis, a black educator at Herman W. Hesse K-8 School. Remember that this is what Leftists want more of. 

The Gods Of The Copybook Headings Return: New Fungal STD Spreads In Minnesota

Another form of immigration afflicts Minnesota. From "New ‘Ringworm’ Outbreak Turns Minnesota Into America’s STD Fungus Hotspot" at Legal Insurrection, we learn that "a fungal infection known as TMVII, [is] currently turning the Twin Cities into ground zero for the nation’s largest known outbreak of a sexually transmitted skin fungus." 

    TMVII, or trichophyton mentagrophytes genotype VII, is the only known fungal-based sexually transmitted disease, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, and it’s treatable with oral antifungals.

    The first case was reported in New York City in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with Minnesota’s first reported case in July 2025, when a patient sought treatment for a genital rash.     

As with most STDs new to the U.S., the disease vector is once again from members of the homosexual community that have returned from exotic locales. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control describes the infection as “an emerging fungus” that was originally “described in travelers returning from Thailand after sexual contact with sex workers.” It’s since been documented in China and in Europe, and is primarily associated with men who have sex with men.   

Another Trans Person Goes Postal

 From the New York Post: "Trans dad Robert Dorgan shoots wife, 3 kids in horrid ‘family dispute’ at crowded RI hockey arena as players and fans are seen scrambling to safety." Per the article, "56-year-old Robert Dorgan — who also went by Roberta Esposito — died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said." But not before shooting "his wife, three kids and a family friend in the stands at a high school hockey tournament in Rhode Island on Monday." His wife and one of his kids also died. 

Related: "Should Transgenders Have Their Firearms Confiscated?"--Guns America. According to the article, Ammunition to Go surveyed attendees of the 2024 National Rifle Association Annual Meetings in Dallas, Texas, with this very question. Per the article:

    When it comes to firearm confiscation for people who’ve had gender reassignment surgery, fewer than 22% of NRA members think these individuals should lose their firearms. About 28% are still on the fence.

    This means that approximately 50% of respondents firmly support 2A rights for the trans community.

    Interestingly, the oldest folks in the survey showed the most support for trans-gun rights. Only 18% of those 60 and older think gender reassignment should lead to confiscation.

    On the flip side, almost one outta three (29%) of 18-30-year-olds think those who’ve had gender reassignment surgery should have their guns seized.    

To be clear, the survey specifically asked about those who have undergone gender-reassignment surgery, so we aren't talking about someone like Corporal Klinger. At the time the Constitution was ratified, the law recognized that the rights of those of unsound mind could be curtailed, so there should be no Constitutional barrier to such a restriction. Be sure to read the comments to the Guns America article as they get to the meat of the matter. 

Wilder: "The Defeat of the West?"

John Wilder has a new post: "The Defeat Of The West?" John offers some thoughts on Emmanuel Todd’s latest book, La Défaite de l’Occident (“The Defeat of the West”), stating:

In Todd’s view, the collective West is collapsing, compared to “stable” powers like Russia and China.  The West’s decline isn’t from bad luck or Russian super-spies, nope.  It comes from the rotting foundations of the West itself.   

John's discussion covers the de-industrialization of the West, the fiat economy, and a deep moral rot resulting in a deep nihilism and rejection of Christianity, with one of the primary examples being the legalization of gay marriage. 

Todd’s book substantiates the politically incorrect that I’ve been championing forever:  nationalism trumps globalism.  The West is exhausted, defeated not by conquest but by its own nihilism leading to that most Evil philosophy of all:  “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”    

Read the whole thing. 

Obama: Aliens Are Real

From Not The Bee: "Barack Obama says yes, aliens are real. Interviewer asks zero follow-up questions." The specific quote: 

They're real, but I haven't seen them. They're not being kept in Area 51. There's no underground facility, unless there's an enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States. 

 But, as the title indicates, the interviewer had no follow up questions. 

Justice When There Is No Rule Of Law

From the Daily Mail: "Eight severed human heads are found near a sign saying 'no stealing'."  The article mentions:

It comes after five other human heads were found hanging from ropes on a tourist beach last month. The remains were left with a warning sign directed at alleged extortionists of fishermen in the small port of Puerto Lopez.  

The article indicates that these incidents are related to disputes between gangs with ties to drug cartels competing over drug routes and territorial disputes, so I suppose it could be an example of gangs actually offering protection to those they extort. But the messages left at the scenes seem to me to suggest civilians that are fed up with criminal gangs.  

Grid Down Communications: LoRa, Meshtastic, Meshcore

The LDS Prepper channel recorded an 1.5 hour presentation on using Mesh networks for preppers allowing you to link devices or send short text messages. Although this presentation is fairly long, he has shorter videos on specific Mesh network topics.  And here are some articles at Hackaday that covers Mesh networks.

VIDEO: "FREE GRID-DOWN TEXTING NOW AVAILABLE: LoRa, Meshtastic, MeshCore"
LDSPrepper (1 hr 30 min.)

VIDEO: Why A Katana Would Lose To A European Longsword

As the video explains, it comes down to the metallurgy--specifically that the Japanese were treated to a very high hardness compared to the European swords which makes the Japanese blades more brittle. (This is why stainless steel makes a poor sword blade). Thus, on a blade on blade strike (or strike against any hard object) the Japanese sword would fracture and perhaps break whereas the European sword would not. The fighter using the longsword also has more leverage than the fighter using the katana if the swords get into a bind. And once in a bind, the longswordsman has more options than the samurai using a katana. And more.  

 VIDEO: "Why KATANAS Would LOSE to Medieval Longswords (The Physics They Don't Tell You)"
The Cutting Edge (9 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #68

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

• "How to Shoot Faster (and Actually Hit)"--Armory Life.  Advice and drills to help you shoot faster while maintaining acceptable accuracy. An excerpt:

    For me, one of my bigger challenges as an instructor has been helping people with a modest level of proficiency reach the next level. They may very well be safe gun handlers and capable of posting a satisfactory score on a course of fire, but are locked into their comfort zone and are not especially confident when it comes to pushing the gas pedal just a little bit harder.

    By reinforcing combat shooting fundamentals such as grip, index on the target, and trigger management and slowly introducing them to a few different drills, I often see great improvement. The ultimate goal is to set each individual’s mental clock so they can strike that ideal balance between speed and accuracy.

    What follows are a few exercises that I have used over the years to teach people how to shoot faster. Perhaps there is something you can use in this mix to improve your skills. 

• "Physical Fitness; The Foundation of all Training"--Combat Shooting & Tactics. As the author points out: "Again, what good is your rifle marksmanship if you’re not strong enough to carry the weapon and spare mags? What good are your hand to hand skills if a 30 second scuffle leaves you bent over, hands on knees, gasping for air."
• "Escalation of Force: How to Choose the Appropriate Response to Potential Violence"--Organic Prepper.  A big issue with self-defense is that the amount or level of force must be reasonable or proportionate to the threat. An excerpt:

    We’ve all heard the saying, “When your only tool is a hammer, you treat everything like it’s a nail.”  The same is true when your only tool is deadly force.

    Obviously, there are life and death situations in which deadly force is the only possible response if you want to live. When someone bursts into your home waving a gun screaming that they’re going to kill you, when someone in a mask is trying to drag you into a van with dark-tinted windows, when someone is clearly intent on beating the crap out of you until you’re dead – all of these things are situations in which your use of a lethal response is entirely justified.

    But… a lot of situations require more finesse unless you want to risk a) spending the rest of your life in prison and praying you don’t drop the soap or b) waiting for bloody vengeance from your adversary’s friends or family or c) criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits forever and ever until you die. 

This is an important topic so please read this. 

• Mossad Ayoob: "Firearms Refresher" (Part 1 - Handguns) (Part 2 - Shotguns) (Part 3 - Rifles). Just a quick review of basics for each type of firearm: checking your weapon and ammunition, checking if it is loaded, weapons handling and safety considerations, tips for drawing the handgun, ammunition selection, straps and slings for the long guns, and more. Just a good review of the basics, but still some tips or ideas for the experienced shooter. If you are teaching someone about shooting, these would probably be good articles to supplement what is your class or teaching session. 
• Some firearms history: "M1 Garand vs. M1941 Johnson Rifle Debate"--Armory Life.  The Johnson rifle was a semi-auto rifle that competed against the M1 Garand. It used a 10-round rotary magazine and saw some very limited use in the war. However, it was too little, too late and so it never replaced the M1 Garand with US forces. 
• And some more firearms history: "The MAT-49: France's Mid-20th Century SMG"--American Rifleman. At the end of WWII, the French were left with a multitude of different weapons and embarked on a program to standardize what they had. The MAT-49 came out of this.

    ... The MAT-49 was simple and rugged featuring a retractable stock made of heavy gauge wire. With its stock retracted the MAT-49 is just 18 inches long—with its stock extended, it is 28 inches (with a 9.1-inch barrel). 

    A unique feature is the folding magazine well, which tucks in neatly beneath the barrel—allowing a safe, compact carry that was particularly appealing for paratroops and vehicle crews. The magazine well could be quickly folded back into the firing position, and the well provides the forward hand grip. The weapon has a bit of heft, weighing nearly 9.5 pounds with a loaded 32-round magazine.

    There is no manual safety on the MAT-49, rather, there's a prominent grip safety. The gun is blowback-operated, firing from an open bolt, with a cyclic rate of 600 rounds per minute. An experienced shooter can easily trigger single rounds. The MAT-49 uses a 32-round, double-stack, single-feed magazine—spring tension is tight, and the magazine loading tool is essential. There was also a 20-round, single-stack magazine, designed to be more resistant to sand and grit, and this was issued to troops in desert environments. 

• While most of us probably think rifle accuracy begins and ends with free floating the barrel, that is not really correct: "Understanding Barrel Bedding"--Rifle Shooter Magazine.  An excerpt:

There are a number of ways a bolt-action rifle can be bedded. Bull barrels and heavy varmint/target barrels oscillate less violently than sporter-weight ones as a bullet accelerates down the bore and generally shoot just as well when free-floated as they do when bedded. Some competitive shooters, however, have been known to glass-bed the barrel and leave the action floating while others permanently bond the barreled action and stock together by not using release agent. Most sporter, carbine and ultralight hunting rifles, however, respond better to other bedding dynamics.

• Related: "How To Adjust Forearm Tip Pressure"--Shooting Times. The author's experience is that most rifles will do best with a free floated barrel. "But in perhaps less than five to 10 percent of the rifles, I run into one that will not shoot well after my initial accurization work. At that point I look at the possibility that this rifle may need some pressure on the barrel. In these cases a pressure point in the stock may help to stabilize or dampen erratic or nonsymmetric barrel movement."
• Related: "Use of Barrel Harmonics For Rifle Accuracy"--Tactical Link.
• Related: "What are barrel harmonics?"--Gun Tweaks. 

• You can't stop the signal: "Airsoft SCAR SMG conversion gang caught"--Impro Guns. The illicit manufacturers here took Airsoft versions of the SCAR, and replaced the guts and barrel with those for a simple submachine gun. Gave the user a nice stock and appearance. There are some photographs showing how things were fit into the Airsoft shell/chassis. 
• "Luth-AR Globe Charging Handle: Why Didn’t I Think Of That?"--The Truth About Guns.  Something that might be useful for those with arthritis. Essentially a ball like that on the bolt handle of a bolt action rifle attached to one side of the cocking handle for an AR. A lot of the comments complain that the ball would hang up things, but since generations have survived using bolt action guns with a ball sticking off the side on a cocking handle, this seems more an imaginary concern than a real one. You know what really hangs up on things with an AR? The pistol grip and long magazines and weapon mounted lights and the tall sights and stocks shaped like giant hooks. 
• "Choosing Your First Hunting Rifle"--Armory Life.  If you are like me, your first hunting rifle was probably a gift or hand-me-down. But if you are looking at getting your first (or just getting another rifle) this article has some tips and pointers starting with cartridge selection, type of action, the importance of keeping the weight down, what game species you are going to be hunting with it (which, frankly, should have been at the top of the list of considerations), and accessorizing it. 
• Related: "Top 5 All-Around North American Big-Game Cartridges"--American Hunter.  
• Related: "The Top 10 Rifle Cartridges for North American Big Game"--Peterson's Hunting.
• "25 Most Popular Survival Books (My Favourite is #5)"--More Than Just Surviving.  This is originally from 2014 and updated in 2015, but is still probably a pretty solid list. I've read 5 of the first 6 books and several of the books in the remainder of the list. I would note, however, that it is mix of wilderness survival and prepping books. I was somewhat disappointed though that the list did not include Cody Lundin's book, When All Hell Breaks Loose, which I consider the best overall prepping book as it goes over mental/emotional preparation and concerns, then goes into topics of shelter, water, food, sanitation and hygiene, and other topics for someone surviving a major disaster, with the emphasis on people surviving in their homes. 
• "Choosing the Best Water Purification Tablets – Everything You Need to Know!"--Alpha Survivalist. The article says that it is reviewing 5 different brands, but only 4 are discussed. There is a brief overview and review of each brand. The author also discusses historical (mostly military) experience with water purification tablets and practical uses. The article also discusses the three general chemical compounds used in such tablets. But this may be the most important tip of all from the article:

    It makes sense to use multiple water purification methods, you can not be careful enough right? Purification tablets work best when they are paired up with quality water filters like the Lifestraw or the Sawyer Mini.

    Specific protozoa species like cryptosporidium usually have a strong resistance to chemical purifiers, however, they are too big to go through many water filters including the two just mentioned above.

    Always keep this in mind when choosing a purification tablet.

• "Seasonal Changeover"--Tactical Wisdom.  The author, Joe Dolio, discusses what he does with his vehicle bags, get home bags, EDC/Patrol bags, and full ruck as the season shifts from winter/early spring to warmer weather, including updating clothing, checking that MREs and other gear is still current and so on. He expects the readers to be familiar with his recommendations for such kit set out in his book, Baseline Training Manual, but the general concepts are valid no matter your set up.
• "15 DIY Instant Soup Mixes"--Urban Survival Site. This is exactly what it sounds like: some recipes of dry ingredients that can be stored in Mason jars or Mylar bags, needing only the addition of hot water to make soup. He warns that some of the ingredients, such as freeze dried chicken, may be hard to source, however.  
• "36 Cool Ideas For Your Paracord Survival Projects"--Survival Life. Belts, keychains, monkeyfist slungshots, chair, sling, etc. 
• "Frightening reality of California’s homeless epidemic laid bare as disease outbreak could threaten LA"--New York Post. 

    The bacterial disease leptospirosis was found in rats at encampments in the hippie college town of Berkeley, leading health officials there to issue an urgent warning to the homeless to clear out.

Per the article, "Flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and vomiting appear between five and 14 days. If the infection isn’t detected and treated with antibiotics, it leads to organ failure, internal bleeding, meningitis — and death."

     Officials told them to relocate at least a third of a mile from the “red zone” encompassing several square blocks as soon as possible. The warning comes as authorities attempted remove the encampment last year but were blocked by a federal judge. 

I find it interesting that the judiciary had no problems with locking down the population for a largely imaginary threat, but suddenly find it objectionable to address a real public health threat.