Lessons from the Austin Metcalf Murder

Reminder: I'm not your attorney and this is not legal advice. 

I mentioned this incident the other day, but the Daily Mail has some additional information on what happened, reporting:

    A 17-year-old admitted to fatally stabbing another teen boy at a track and field meet in Texas as he was arrested, according to police.

    'I'm not alleged. I did it,' Karmelo Anthony reportedly told cops as he was taken into custody after he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at the Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco.

    Anthony stabbed Metcalf in the heart, killing him, after Metcalf told him he was sitting in the wrong chair at the match between their two schools, according to the late teen's family.

    An arrest report says a confrontation between the two star football players began when Metcalf told Anthony he was sitting under another team's pop-up tent and told him to move, as reported by NBC DFW.

    The two students from different high schools began fighting before Anthony unzipped his bag and reached in, telling Metcalf: 'Touch me and see what happens.'

    The report says Metcalf then 'grabbed Anthony to tell him to move and Anthony pulled out ... a black knife and stabbed Austin once in the chest.'

    Anthony reportedly ran away before being arrested by responding officers.

    He had apparently told a school resource officer: 'I was protecting myself,' and, 'He put his hands on me.'

This was a "monkey dance" that went lethal because the suspect was more violent than the victim. Metcalf thought they were still at a lower level of conflict and Anthony zipped past "Go" and went directly to using lethal force (and now to jail). Marc MacYoung uses the analogy that "violence is a road, not a destination," progressing from low levels of conflict (e.g., verbal insults, threats) and advancing to greater and greater violence the farher you go down the road. 

    A problem that can arise, however, is that the landmarks along the road that tell the participants where the violence has progressed or where it is going may look different or not even be recognized by certain participants; or one of the participants may move faster down the road than the other ("Someone can go from Mile Marker 25 to 150 in heartbeat," MacYoung writes). And, "[i]n other cases, you're dealing with someone where 300-plus is the norm," such as "someone who routinely deals with higher levels of physical violence."(1) The latter seems to have been the case with Anthony; and, frankly, based on the facts, he seems to have set up Metcalf, hoping that Metcalf or someone like him, would confront him about where he sat and give him the excuse (from Anthony's perspective) to react violently. BLM, don't you know.

    But let's assume that for sake of argument that Anthony legitimately thought he was defending himself. Where his self-defense claim would fall apart was on the reasonableness of the force used against his attacker, because it was not proportionate to the threat. These were two young men approximately the same age, so there was not a disparity of force that you might see between a man and a woman, or a young man and an elderly or infirm man. Moreover, Anthony was not being faced with lethal force: Metcalf, rightly or wrongly, was only attempting to evict Anthony from what was essentially a reserved seating area. Even if Metcalf "put his hands" on Anthony, that does not equate to lethal force or a risk of grave bodily harm; and for Anthony to escalate the force to a lethal level takes him outside of what was reasonable. 

    From the opposite perspective--that of the victim in this case--there is the issue of how far to push an issue. As MacYoung explains, the road of violence has landmarks that tell how far down the road you have traveled; landmarks that generally follow a progression before reaching levels of lethal force. But there are also generally exits along the road, although these will become fewer and farther apart the longer you go down the road. This is where deescalation tactics come into play. But this means that either one participant will need to exit in a way that allows the other participant to save face; or a third party or parties will need to break up the situation in a way that the participants have a face saving excuse to back down; or that one participant will bring in allies that will make the situation untenable for the other participant where he is forced to withdraw. (Or course, the humiliated participant may, in turn, return later when the situation is more propitious for him).

    In this particular case, Anthony's statement to Metcalf warning that something would happen if Metcalf touched him was a landmark. It was a sign to Metcalf that he needed to exit the road or turn back (or, if the violence was necessary, to get down to it). Again, the problem here is that Metcalf probably thought that it was a landmark indicating that the events were going to go from a verbal exchange (Mile Marker 25 or 50) to a fist fight (Mile Marker 100)-probably something that Metcalf felt confident he could handle. Meanwhile, Anthony was ready to jump far down the road to using lethal force (Mile Marker 500). 

    Although there was undoubtedly other warnings of where Anthony was along the road, based on the facts we know, the most significant was Anthony reaching into his bag. Metcalf probably could not see what was in the bag, but anytime a confrontation leads to an opponent reaching for something out of sight, you can be sure that they are not reaching for something good for you (but is it a weapon or a cell phone?). I suspect that Metcalf either didn't recognize the significance of that act, or was so caught up in the monkey dance that he did not see the act. 

---------------------------------

(1) I'm going to go out on a limb and just say that someone from an "honor" culture--i.e., more sensitive to insults and slights--are more likely to fall into the category of being comfortable at operating at higher levels of violence. Black ghetto culture is definitely an honor culture, which is why you so often hear them talk about respect or complaining they have been disrespected.

How The Movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" Should Have Ended

    The script and novel of 2001: A Space Odyssey were largely joint efforts between film maker Stanley Kubrick and author Arthur C. Clark.      

    If you have seen Kubrick's film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know that an alien monolith is uncovered on the Moon that, once exposed to sunlight, sends a signal directed toward Jupiter; and when astronaut Bowman, aboard the spacecraft Discovery reaches Jupiter, he finds another, much larger, monolith in orbit about the planet. 

    But if you have read the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know that, unlike the movie, the signal was actually directed to one of the moons of Saturn, Iapetus. There, Bowman discovers a large circular or oval marking on the surface of Iapetus, in the center of which stands another, much larger, monolith. Funny enough, when space probes were actually able to photograph Iapetus from close up, it did have a large circular crater similar to the marking described in the novel.

    In any event, in both the novel and the film, the monolith Bowman discovers is a stargate which transports Bowman once he enters it, although what Bowman sees and encounters after he enters the stargate differs somewhat between the film and the novel.

    Per Wikipedia, "the use of Saturn as the final destination of the Discovery mission rather than Jupiter, [was] discarded when the special effects team could not develop a convincing rendition of Saturn's rings," which matches what I read several decades ago in a book about the making of 2001. Apparently there was a falling out between Kubrick and Clark during the writing and production which also led to other differences between the two, particular in the ending. 

    The video below shows how the movie should have ended if it had followed the novel. Although a fan pic, the CGI is not bad. It picks up with Bowman's fellow crew member, Poole, being killed by the HAL 9000 computer as Discovery approaches Jupiter, and then quickly goes over the subsequent events, including the journey to Saturn and Bowman's journey into the stargate and transformation into the Star Child, who is (ineffectually) attacked by the Earth nations with nuclear weapons. 

VIDEO: "2001: The Alternative Trip"
C B Newham (27 min.)

VIDEO: Why SHTF Fantasies Are Dangerous

 Some good points on why shouldn't be hoping for civilization to crash and burn.

 VIDEO: "Why SHTF Fantasies Are Extremely Dangerous For Modern Preppers"
Modern Frontiersman (6 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #27

 Some articles that have caught my attention:

• First up is a new newsletter from Jon Low at Defensive Pistolcraft. It bears repeating, but he has a large number of links, quotes (some quite extensive) and his own comments and observations--so much, that it would be impossible for me to summarize them here, so be sure to click over and check them out. That said, I always try to pick out one or more items that caught my attention. This week, it was some comments that relate to the "average" or "typical" gun fight. Jon includes this quote from Greg Ellifritz: "Your gunfights will always be anomalies. So are those of all the instructors you venerate. It’s useful to keep those facts in mind." I don't have the context to this statement, so I don't know if Greg is saying that gun fights are, by their nature, anomalous and most conflicts can be resolved in other ways, or if he is saying that they are unique and do not fit into any standard "mold" or "formula". I suspect the latter. And it corresponds to a longer excerpt that Jon includes from Gabe Saurez on statistics and the maxim that the average gun fight is over in 3 seconds, involves 3 rounds, and takes place at 3 yards; and his warning about people that then use this to rule out certain scenarios, certain equipment and certain training. I won't include the full quote, but this captures the gist of it:

      I have been blessed with a large number of critical incidents.  I thoroughly appreciated each and everyone.  And each was totally different from the others.  As well, my students tend to be meat eater types and they have also faced the mythical elephant now and again.  Those that report back tell me the same.  Each gunfight, like each girl you date, will be a different experience.  You cannot predict anything statistically unless you are looking at a very small demographic . . . like redheads . . . or like night shift gas station cashiers.  

     For example, an analysis of ghetto liquor store owners using a weapon for self defense will not be the same as what a home owner in Beverly Hills will see when a three man team of Hoover Crips kicks in his door at zero dark thirty.  And that will be totally different from the Bounty Hunter who is fired upon from 20 yards in a parking lot by his quarry, as well as for the next Eli Dickens who happens to receive Churchill's tap when shopping with his girl.  

     If we are really looking at statistics as a guiding tool for self defense the vast majority of gun people should sell their Model 13 revolvers and join a gym as from my perspective they are in more danger from metabolic disease than from Meth-head Mike and his sharpened screwdriver. 

 And, he adds: "Statistics are interesting . . . but only as a point of conversation.  The wise man will train to be adaptable so that his skill sets are at the very least applicable across a vast spectrum of distances, initiatives, numbers of adversaries, etc."

    I would caution, however, against going to the other extreme and completely ignore statistics. Tom Givens has collected information from his students that have been involved in shootings which provide useful insights (see, "When Citizens Fight Back"--American Handgunner). But the biggest takeaway should be that there are fundamental differences between armed citizen encounters and those in law enforcement (or the military or, I suspect, bounty hunters). As he looks over the information he has collected, Givens writes:

    The majority of these incidents involved an armed robbery, which I believe is probably the most likely scenario for armed self-defense by private citizen. We’re talking about business stickups, parking lot robberies at gunpoint, carjackings and home invasions — all crimes likely to get you killed. The reason the bad guy uses a weapon is to create standoff and to terrorize the victim into compliance, before closing in to take the wallet, purse, car keys, etc.

    The thug will, however, need to be close enough to his victim to communicate his desires and to easily close the distance and take the goods when the time comes. Thus the typical armed robbery occurs at anywhere from two or three steps, to roughly the length of a car — between the robber and his victim. That is, then, about three to seven yards typically, or say nine to 21′ or so. This is the distance at which most of my students have had to use their guns.

    I believe we should do the bulk of our training and practice at these “most likely” distances.

I'm not telling you that you don't need to, or shouldn't, practice at taking that 40 or 50 yard shot with your defensive pistol, or learn techniques only useful for contact distances. But Givens has a point about where to spend "the bulk of our training and practice". And I think that Saurez also has a point that most of us would benefit from more cardio training (especially running and sprinting).

•  "“Mass Shootings” versus Active Killer Attacks"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz, here, is distinguish between the situation where there is an outbreak of shooting in which a number of people are shot--generally the result of inner city drug gang conflict--and an active shooter event where the shooter is there specifically to kill those he or she comes across. And the reason to distinguish between the two types of incidents is because they should be responded to differently:

    When you hear shots nearby, immediately get down on the ground or behind cover.  Assess where the shots are coming from and plan a path of retreat in the opposite direction, ideally moving between large pieces of cover as you make your escape.  That’s it.  There is absolutely nothing else you should do.

     These are young thugs fighting other young thugs.  These are gang bangers fighting other gang bangers.  These are drunken idiots who decide to whip out a pistol when they are insulted.  None of those situations involves you in any way, even if you are in danger of catching an errant bullet.

    They don’t want to shoot you.  The only way you will get hit is by accident.  Don’t go looking for trouble.  Don’t try to intervene.  There is no “innocent third party” to protect.  Let the dumb shits shoot each other.  You don’t have to play their game.

Keep your weapon holstered.  It’s OK to have your hand on your holstered gun in the event you need to use it, but you should only draw if one of the shooters is directly threatening you/your family or is impeding your escape.

He also advises against sticking around to be a "good witness," lest the gangbanger, his buddies, or his family get your address and decide to pay you a visit.

• More: Greg Ellifritz also has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump up at his site. I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but I'm sure it has links to a lot of useful articles and/or videos.
  

• "Rifles: Transition Time"--Shooting Illustrated. The author discusses transitioning from a rifle to a handgun. An excerpt:

    When carrying a rifle, there are three principal ways to clear a path for rapidly drawing and presenting a sidearm. The least preferred method is to simply drop the rifle to the ground. If that’s your only choice for getting to your backup firearm, so be it. But, as a general rule, relinquishing control of a firearm in the presence of active threats is a bad idea. 

    The second approach is to hold the rifle in your support hand, then draw and operate the backup gun with only the dominant hand. Again, if you have no other way to keep control of the rifle, this is probably your best choice—especially for a near and immediate threat. But in my experience, the most effective transition method is to simply let go of a rifle that has been slung across one’s chest, allowing the drawing and presenting of a hand-gun with a two-handed grip, while retaining control of the rifle.

    There are nearly as many ways to wear a slung rifle as there are types of slings, but one method is tailor-made for this technique. Wearing it in “ready” or “assault” mode, with the rifle across the chest and muzzle low, makes transitioning easy. To achieve this, a two-point sling should be attached so that the rifle’s support-hand side lies flat against the body.

    Further, the rear of the sling should pass over the strong-side shoulder, while the front is routed under the support-side armpit. This configuration allows one to simply drop the rifle so that it falls against the chest with the barrel angled down and the muzzle clear of legs and feet. Because this keeps the stock high on the strong side, a belt-holstered sidearm can be drawn normally.

• "The Pros And Cons Of A Defensive Revolver"--Shooting Illustrated. The first reason the author raises is that revolvers are legal to own in all 50 states whereas there are lots of restrictions on semi-auto handguns that vary widely from state-to-state or local-to-local. He also notes that revolvers have some advantages in concealability, their simplicity of operation, and reliability. On the latter point, he writes:

Neglect of lubrication and maintenance can make an unfired semi-automatic handgun malfunction, whereas revolvers tend to suffer neglect quite well. Conversely, modern semi-automatics tend to suffer abuse well, and revolvers require strict maintenance if you’re shooting a high round count in a short time. So, if you’re the type of person to abuse guns by constant dry-practice and live-fire, a semi-automatic will be an excellent option. If you’re one of the vast majority of citizens who place their defensive handgun in a drawer, safe or holster and forget about it for embarrassingly long periods of time, a revolver has much to recommend.

But also as to reliability, the author points out that many small semi-autos suffer from reliability issues when "in real-world incidents, where one might have a suboptimal two-handed or one-handed grip, be off-balance and as a result, 'limp-wrist' the gun, become entangled and grapple with an attacker or otherwise deviating from the optimal shooting technique we use on a practice range."

•  Related: "Selling Revolvers To Women (And Others)"--Shooting Industry Magazine. Massad Ayoob raises some of the same advantages as selling points to women. For instance:

    ... A whole lot more women than men are more concerned with being sexually assaulted than they are with being robbed. Sexual assault, by definition, occurs at contact distance. A short-barrel revolver has some huge advantages in an entangled, direct-contact struggle.

    As the great Henry Fitzgerald noted almost 100 years ago, a snub-nose revolver with a decent grip is possibly the most difficult gun for a strong male assailant to wrest away from a smaller, physically weaker intended victim. The victim has more to hang onto than the attacker who grabs the barrel. Decades of teaching weapon retention and disarming have shown me Fitzgerald was right. (Small pocket autos don’t give the attacker much to grab, but don’t give the defender much to hang onto, either.)

    Moreover, “contact distance” may necessitate a “contact shot.” Press-contact will push most auto pistols out of battery and render them unshootable; not so with the revolver. Remember, at press contact, muzzle blast is directed into the homicidal attacker’s body, significantly magnifying wound effect.

•  Related: "REVOLVERS"--Backwoods Home Magazine. Another article outlining some of the advantages to a revolver. 

• "TFB Armorer's Bench: Diagnosing and Assessing a Winchester 94"--The Firearm Blog. Some issues that you might come across with old and well used examples of this carbine.
• "The King and Queen of Handgun Stopping Power"--Tactical Anatomy Systems.  

"Shot placement is king; adequate penetration is queen; everything else is angels dancing on the heads of pins”--Karl Martell

•  "Behind the Bullet: .400 H&H Magnum"--American Hunter. 

    ... The .400 H&H Magnum uses the same belted design as the .375 H&H and .300 H&H use, maintaining the 2.85-inch case and 3.600-inch overall cartridge length. To ensure the same smooth feeding of the older siblings, Holland & Holland use a slight eight-degree shoulder, and has a neck measuring 0.684 inches, so there is plenty of neck tension. Holland & Holland decided on the same 400-grain bullets common to the .416s, however the smaller diameter will yield a higher sectional density (SD) value. The .400 H&H bullet has a SD value of .338, with the 416 bullet comes in at .330, and the .423-inch-diameter of the .404 Jeffery comes in .319. Does this marginal difference show itself in the field? It might, as a higher sectional density is often correlated to deeper penetration.

    The .400 H&H has a muzzle velocity of 2300 fps, generating 4,700 ft.-lbs. of energy at the muzzle. While developing less energy than that of the lineup of .416s (which better that velocity by 100 fps) it is more than enough to properly handle dangerous game. ...

• "Enfield No. 5 Mk 1 Rifle: History of the 'Jungle Carbine'"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. The author provides some history of this interesting weapon as well as a review of a model he picked up and tested. An excerpt:

    The No. 5 Enfield in .303 British is almost the perfect bolt-action rifle. For once designers delivered a rifle with the right weight, length, balance and power for almost any task a World War II infantryman might encounter. But the No. 5 came too late because the bolt action itself was already obsolete, and two serious flaws consigned it to the scrap bin.

    For one, its zero sometimes wandered inexplicably, and while the short rifle that was perfectly capable in the jungles of Southeast Asia, it lacked the longer-range performance the Western Front of Europe demanded. Since the self-loading rifle was ascendant and fixes for the No. 5 were too slippery—not to mention plenty of No. 4 rifles still in inventory—it was scrapped in 1947 and the old, tried-and-true No. 4 stayed in service a while longer.

My father owned a couple of these for use as hunting rifles for my older brothers, but I don't remember any complaints about a wondering zero, and I've read other articles questioning whether it was real or an excuse to justify stopping production. 

• Related: "Fudd Friday: Is .303 British The Ultimate Fudd Cartridge?"--The Firearm Blog. The author relates that, while it has become hard to source factory loaded ammunition in the U.S., the .303 British is still quite common in the Commonwealth countries and former British colonies. 
  

• "10 Timely Hunting Survival Safety Tips"--American Hunter. 

1. Know the area you are hunting;
2. Do not rely solely on electronics;
3. Tell someone your plans and set a check-in time;
4. Watch for extreme weather changes;
5. Dress or carry clothes for the worst weather you are likely to encounter;
6. Be prepared to build a fire;
7. Bring a flashlight or headlamp and extra batteries;
8. If you get lost, warmth, shelter and water should be your top priorities;
9. Make sure your vehicle and ATV are ready for the backcountry and be prepared for minor breakdowns; and,
10. Keep a dry set of clothes in your vehicle.

•  "Build a Bug Out Kindle: A Digital Survival Library at Your Fingertips"--The Art of Manliness. This article is from 2022, so some of the technology mentioned may be dated, no longer available, or there may be updated versions available. 

    As an initial matter, I would point out that photographs in the article are of a color reader or tablet, not the black and white e-ink versions. Although the e-ink readers have much longer battery life, they are not very good at displaying illustrations, particularly if the originals were in color. I have no experience with the newer colorsoft Kindle readers. I think the best option would be a fully functional Android tablet with readers installed that can display a variety of formats. 

 

    In any event, the author goes on to discuss protection or power:

 

    Before we get into the books you should stock in your electronic survival library, let’s talk about ensuring you have access to that library, even during a grid-down scenario.

    Protecting and powering your Bug Out Kindle are two absolute requirements. If both of these options were not possible, a Kindle would not be included in my Bug Out Bag. Options abound when it comes to both.

 

    Military-grade cases and covers are readily available online that are shock-resistant and waterproof – two absolute bug out necessities. A durable waterproof sleeve or map case will suffice at a bare minimum.

 

    Solar power and manual crank USB chargers are readily available as well. Most hand-crank emergency radios now have a USB charger built in, which will power the Kindle, and there are devices these days that give you the option of charging via hand-crank or solar.

The author then continues by offering suggestions as to specific books to include. I'm not going to reproduce his list, but I will note that listed books and documents fall into six main categories: Survival Skills, Shelter, Water, Fire, Food, First Aid, and Documents. The latter category are not, of course, Kindle ebooks, but PDF scans of documents you find important: 

    ... From maps and GPS coordinates to addresses and telephone numbers, this puts literally any kind of information that you wish at your fingertips in the middle of a bug out scenario. I’ve loaded tons of medical documents such as antibiotic doses and measurements to this folder. I also include chemical water purification ratios and PDF manuals for some of my electronics, such as my handheld HAM radio.

    This feature, which some e-readers lack, gives you the option of loading personal documents such as insurance paperwork, pet shot records, marriage licenses, bank information, and the like for easy reference. I prefer to keep my personal documents on a secure, password-protected thumb drive, but the Kindle is a great option for less sensitive information.

    Finally, the author suggests including some games for the kids to keep their minds occupied. This is obviously a bit easier proposition if you are using a fully functional tablet. In this category, it would probably be helpful to include a book like Hoyle's Books of Games or similar. I would include some books both for personal reading and reading out loud to the whole of your family. My suggestion as to books to read out loud would be to include some of the classic children's literature like Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, The Wind In The Willows, etc. Not only is the vocabulary equal to or exceeding most books published for adults today, but because they were meant for children, the chapters are generally shorter.

• Related: "Free Survival PDFs, Manuals, & Downloads"--True Prepper. A good source for beginning your Digital Survival Library with a good selection of military manuals useful for survival and prepping, additional survival manuals from other organizations, some more general preparedness manuals, links to a couple of the "Where There Is No ..." series for basic medical care, books and manuals specific to surviving a nuclear attack, and a bunch of useful checklists. 
• Related: "The Essential Survival Tool for the Digital Age: An Offline Digital Survival Library"--Companion. Although this page is intended to interest you in purchasing their survival library of books (on a thumb drive), it also equipment you need and the categories of information you should have.
  

• "Olight Arkfeld Ultra Review"--Every Day Commentary. This site mostly reviews EDC gear, including a lot of flashlights. So when the author says he does not like a flashlight--in this case, the Arkfeld Ultra--you probably want to pay attention. Of course, the reasons he might not like it may not be that relevant to you. In this case, two of the issues he had with the light was that (i) he doesn't like Olight's proprietary magnetic charging system, and (ii) you can't easily switch out the battery (for instance, if your battery dies and you want to slip in fully charged batter). I have several Olight flashlights and weapon lights and I actually like the Olight magnetic charging system. Unlike the author, I don't find it hard to throw in the extra charging cable just for the Olight (I'm already packing two or three varieties of charging cables anyway for other devices). And I would be willing to give up the ability to switch batteries to have a flashlight that is easier to carry in a pocket. But if that was all that was wrong with the light, I wouldn't have included this article in my list. The author identifies other issues, including that it just isn't all that good at its basic function of being a flashlight. 
• "11 Urban Survival Skills That Could Save Your Life"--Urban Survival Site. This is actually somewhat of a meta-list. That is, he lists 11 general categories of skills, but in each description is a link to additional articles on specific sub-topics or skills. The general categories include water collection and purification, foraging and scavenging, blending in, situational awareness, home security and defense, escaping dangerous people and riots, weapons training and safety, first aid and medical, basic handyman skills, basic vehicle repair. and how to barter and haggle.
  

The Diversity Report #23

 A selection of articles showcasing the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion: 

• "Boat crammed with 99 Haitian migrants cut off trying to sneak onto US shores, shipped back home"--New York Post. Intercepted by the Coast Guard about 35 miles off the coast of Cap-Haitien in Haiti. 
• On the subject of the world's oldest black republic: "Caribbean Catastrophe: Avoiding the Haiti Fallout"--Hoover Institute. The article begins by painting a picture of what a mess is the country of Haiti:

 Described as “apocalyptic” by William O’Neill, whom the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed its expert on Haiti, the country has suffered thousands of homicides as well as kidnappings, with rape a common occurrence. In addition to the violence, Haitians experience a constant lack of food, shelter, water, and medical services. All the necessities of a functioning state remain in disrepair. The humanitarian catastrophe has displaced more than five hundred thousand Haitians, a majority of whom are seeking entry into the United States, legally or not. More than three hundred thousand Haitians have been granted safe haven through the Temporary Protected Status program, as the Biden administration expanded program coverage last summer.

But it then argues for armed intervention involving U.S. troops lest the Haitians flee the country en masse to surrounding countries and the U.S. Or, here is a brilliant idea, rather than waste our blood and treasure trying to salvage what cannot be saved, we defend our borders and let nature take its course in Haiti. It would be cheaper to interdict boats leaving Haiti than to send troops into Haiti. 

• "Trouble in Paradise: Battling crime wave in Trinidad & Tobago"--BBC.  Reads the article, "With murders soaring, Trinidad and Tobago's government declared a state of emergency on 30 December. It was originally due to last 15 days, but as it was about to run out, parliament voted to extend it for a further three months until mid-April."
• Don't make the black kids angry: "Boy, 17, dies in his twin brothers arms after being murdered for most senseless reason at track meet"--Daily Mail.  

    Austin Metcalf was attacked on Wednesday at the Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco after he told 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony he was sitting in the wrong chair, according to the late teen's family.

    Anthony was charged with murder after he allegedly stabbed Metcalf in the heart as his twin brother Hunter watched in horror and then tried to save his life.

• "Fans livid as USA fencing disqualify female athlete for refusing to face trans rival"--Daily Mail.
  

    USA's Stephanie Turner initially lined up to face Redmond Sullivan in a tournament at the University of Maryland earlier this week, only to take a knee and remove her mask in protest at being matched against a biological male.

    As a result, she was subsequently excluded from the Cherry Blossom competition and suspended for the remainder of it after being shown a black card.  

I'm old enough to remember when women taking male hormones was enough to disqualify them from women's athletics. Now its okay for actual men to compete in women's athletics. I bet it would change, though, if it started angering Muslims because, for obvious reasons, if government officials don't respect Muslims, they at least fear them. And that is the basic problem we face in the West: our governments neither respect nor fear the citizenry. At the least they should fear to lose their jobs, which means that the primary steps to recover our democratic forms of government will require eliminating government labor unions, make government employment "at-will", and bring back the spoils system.

• "Transgender Nashville shooter Audrey Hale spent years preparing for attack that killed 6 at Christian school"--New York Post. 

    Nashville police have released their final report on the Covenant School massacre – a targeted March 2023 attack on a Christian school by a transgender shooter who killed three third-graders and three adults.

    Rather than a highly anticipated manifesto, the report found that killer Audrey Hale left behind numerous notebooks, art books and computer documents about her plans to commit the attack and gain notoriety, partly inspired by the Columbine school shooting in 1999.

    Hale, the 28-year-old attacker and biological female, began “fantasizing” about and researching mass shootings as far back as 2017, according to investigators. A year later, she wrote “detailed fantasies” about shooting up the Isaac T. Creswell Middle Magnet School for the Arts, killing her father and killing her psychiatrist.

* * *

    Hale wanted people to remember her after her death, according to the document, and was partly inspired by books and documentaries on the Columbine killers. She wanted similar records of her own life and expected her guns, artwork and journals to be preserved in museums around the world.

    “Most disturbingly, she wanted the things she left behind to be shared with the world so she could inspire and teach others who were ‘mentally disordered’ like her to plan and commit an attack of their own,” investigators wrote.

Notably, Hale did not describe being bullied or harassed at the school, but recollected her time there as one of the happiest times in her life. Instead, she picked the school because it was the least likely location where anyone would be able to stop her. 

• More: "Covenant School trans shooter targeted elementary class because little kids wouldn’t put up a fight, her sick diaries reveal"--New York Post.
  

• "Government Funneled Unprecedented Amount Of Money To Criminal Gangs Through COVID Relief, Oversight Report Finds"--Daily Caller. From December 2024:

    The U.S. federal government sent an unprecedented amount of money to fraudsters and international criminal gangs through COVID-19 relief programs, according to a Friday report from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

    The government provided an estimated $872 billion in assistance through programs like the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), at least 17% of which — amounting to nearly $200 billion — was “disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors,” AEI’s Matt Weidinger wrote, quoting an after action review from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic under the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

• "Starbucks Reverses Open Public Bathroom Policy After Junkie Influx Created Unsafe Environment"--Zero Hedge. "Newly appointed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has reportedly reversed a seven-year policy that allowed the general public to use store bathrooms without making a purchase," the article relates. "The policy had resulted in widespread drug use at certain store locations, particularly in lawless, Democrat-controlled cities." Heh.
• "Walgreens CEO makes stunning claim about the impact locking goods up has had on the industry"--Daily Mail. First, he states that locking up goods did not work because, surprising no one, people couldn't purchase products that were locked up which caused sales to decline; and so the chain is going to be closing stores instead. Second, even with locking things up, the chain still saw a 52% increase in theft. 
• Good! "Bill Gates Foundation, Other Nonprofits Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Over Anti-White Discrimination"--Daily Wire.  

The Gates Foundation, AAER says, is “intentionally discriminating against white students by excluding them from the tuition assistance and specialized support that it provides to students of every other race or ethnicity.” The foundation’s Gates Scholarship states that the program is a “highly selective, last dollar scholarship for outstanding, minority high school students” before listing acceptable racial and ethnic backgrounds in its eligibility requirements.

• Time to call the wambulance! "Military women left fuming after US Air Force changes appearance policy"--Daily Mail. What horrible changes were made? "Now, women can only wear clear polish or have a French or American manicure. An American manicure is similar to a French, with white tips and a clear or softer skin-colored natural polish underneath instead of using start [sic] pink and white." 

    'Three options! No matter what your skin tone,' Elora exclaimed.

    'People are not happy,' Elora explained about Reddit forums where fellow military women are complaining and questioning the new rulings. 'They think that the priorities are a little bit skewed right now and nail polish is not really that serious.'

    She said people believe 'there are a lot of other things that should be focused on when it comes to military readiness and recruiting.'

One thing we can do to increase military readiness is get rid of service women who are hung up on what colors of nail polish they are allowed. 

• Related: "Hegseth orders 'sex-neutral' combat fitness tests, raising concern from military women"--USA Today. 

• "Idaho Army National Guard Declared 'No Christians in Command': Lawsuit"--PJ Media.
  

Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of an Idaho Army National Guard infantry officer against Governor Brad Little and two army generals for unlawfully removing the officer from command solely due to his personal Christian expression on biblical sexuality made outside of the military environment. An investigation into the officer, which revealed no wrongdoing, nevertheless recommended a policy to monitor potential candidates for command for any “concerning ideologies” as a way of “rooting out” any “extremism” in the ranks. In this case, the decision to remove him from command on this basis shows that his superiors believe his Bible-centered beliefs on sexuality to be concerning and essentially puts an unconstitutional “No Christians in Command” policy into action.

The article relates that "Major David Worley ran for mayor of Pocatello, Idaho, and during his campaign, he spoke out against drag queen story hours, explicit material in public libraries, and transgender treatments for children. He made all of those statements outside of his duties with the Idaho Army National Guard."

• "The pregnant women who fear Trump’s birthright citizenship order"--NBC News. Illegals and refugees hoping to give birth to anchor babies. 
• When grift and multiculturalism collide: "Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump from Defunding Free Lawyers for Migrants"--Breitbart. 

    In February, as Breitbart News reported, the Trump administration paused funding for the Acacia Center for Justice — a non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides free lawyers to tens of thousands of UACs hoping to stay in the United States using millions in American taxpayer dollars.

    During the Biden administration, the Acacia Center for Justice secured $200 million in federal contracts to provide lawyers to UACs.

    Late on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez Olguin, who was born in Mexico City and was appointed by Biden, became the latest federal judge to block Trump from carrying out his “America First” agenda.

    “The irreparable harm resulting from Defendants’ actions weighs in favor of temporary injunctive relief,” Olguin wrote while issuing a temporary restraining order that will require the Trump administration to continue funneling taxpayer money to the Acacia Center for Justice.

• "Canada Discovers True Multiculturalism"--Vox Day. Quoting from a piece about how the old-guard political alliances that help flood the country with immigrants is now discovering that the new immigrants aren't interested in the old-guard's politics but are looking out for their own. Google is proving to be its useless self, so I can't find the link to the original source, although I believe it was a from the X account of  κρῠπτός (kruptos). An excerpt:

    ... But, immigration has been promoted to the scale that that the one time client has now realized that it can form it’s own client base. So Indians, the Chinese, and to a lesser extent Middle Eastern Muslims have begun to work in concert. Each works for the benefit of their own group. ...

* * *

    As a non-Indian or a non-Chinese or a non-Middle Easterner in Canada ... one of the political calculations that has to be made is the question of containing and subverting or undermining the political influence of these groups. They are a threat to all three of the original power bases and to the nation as a whole. Why? Because they place family, clan, and ethnic loyalty ahead of other interests. It is not in their thinking culturally to look out for the nation as a whole.

    You are thinking in older terms of DEI or the “meritocracy,” hiring the best candidates, and they are looking to hire or place Indians in positions whenever possible. You cannot defeat this by emphasizing institutional neutrality. That will be used against you. The shift that is going to have to come is that you will have do as they are doing or you will lose to them because they are better organized and are better at looking after their own interests. Attach whatever negative label you want to this, but you have been warned.

Gruesome Deaths and Attacks #3

 Some more macabre news stories I've come across:

• "Horrifying moment python's bulging belly wriggles as grandmother is found swallowed whole inside the snake"--The Daily Mail. I'm old enough to remember when stories like these were dismissed by experts as superstition and old wives' tales. But I'm also old enough to remember when there were no confirmed attacks by mountain lions on humans in North America.

    This is the horrifying moment a python's bulging stomach appeared to wriggle - before a family found their grandmother swallowed whole inside.

    The anxious family of a missing woman tracked the snake down to a patch of dense vegetation in South Sulawesi, Indonesia yesterday afternoon.

    Locals feared for the worst when they saw the 26ft serpent weighed down by a large bulge in its stomach.

    Slashing into the snake, they found the body of 66-year-old Hasia, who had vanished while walking home from her job at a rubber plantation.

    The snake is believed to have pounced from the tall grass and clamped down on her leg, causing her to fall.

    Hasia battled to escape from its grip, but was squeezed to death while being swallowed whole, it was reported locally.

• "Nine students found dismembered by side of Mexico highway after disappearing on vacation"--New York Post. 

    The bodies of nine students who went missing on vacation in southern Mexico last month have been found dismembered by the side of a local highway — with a bag of hands nearby.

    The group’s gruesome remains were discovered in the trunk of an abandoned vehicle and underneath a blood-covered tarp in San Jose Miahuatlan on the border of the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca.

    Four of the bodies were in the trunk, while the other five corpses were left under the tarp. 

    A bag with eight pairs of hands was also found at the scene, with two more hands left in the trunk, reported Periodico Central.

    The bodies of the four women and five men, ages 19 to 30, all had bullet wounds and signs of torture, according to El Financiero.

• Speaking of being disarmed: "Two tourists die when one has arm ripped off by shark and another drowns after they are swept away from their dive group by strong currents in the Philippines"--Daily Mail. 

    Two Russian divers have died in the Philippines after being swept away by strong undercurrents - with one believed to have drowned and the other mauled in a horrifying shark attack, according to officials.

    Four Russian men aged 18 to 57 were diving with a Filipino dive instructor in a popular destination near the resort area of Batangas on Thursday when they were separated by the current, coast guards said.

    While two members of the group and the instructor managed to swim back safely to their boat, two of the tourists, who were identified as Ilia Peregudin, 29, and Maksim Melekhov, 39, went missing.

    The dive instructor and other divers in the area, along with Philippine coast guard personnel, immediately launched a search, according to officials.

    The first man found by rescuers floating in the water, and was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital, coast guard district chief Airland Lapitan Lapitan said.

    The second missing diver was found later that evening 'being attacked by sharks', Lapitan said.

    It took the rescuers more than half an hour to prize him away from the predators, but eventually, he said, 'they somehow managed to pull him away.'

    The man lost his right arm in the vicious attack, with Lapitan saying it had been severed as the sharks pulled at him.

• "Missing fisherman pulled overboard by massive shark: police"--New York Post. The fisherman had apparently captured the shark in a net, but was pulled overboard by the shark while attempting to reel in the net, and drowned.
  
• "Child snatcher, 61, who lured nine-year-old girl out of store with a lollipop meets violent end"--Daily Mail.  A fitting end:

    New footage captured the moment a 61-year-old man lured a nine-year-old girl into his convenience store in Brazil moments before an angry mob beat him to death.

    Marco Jacob was seen standing by the exit of the shop in the southeastern city of Tramandaí when the girl followed him inside, surveillance camera showed.

    The child's family told police that she was given permission to visit a neighborhood plaza for a playdate before she failed to return home. 

    The video showed the girl walking past the store and stopping in front of a house before she walked over to Jacob.

    After speaking for about 16 seconds, the girl ran on to the street and appeared to walk away, but turned around and followed Jacob into the store.

    She was reported missing around 7 pm local time and residents joined her family in an all-out search by putting up posters and pictures of her in the neighborhood. 

* * *

    Cell phone video showed the frantic moment cops barged through the convenience store, tossing crates to the side before they located the girl locked away underground beneath a trapdoor.

    The child was eventually carried out of her makeshift dungeon by one of the cops as she shouted, 'I was abused,' while Jacob is slammed to the ground

    A person who witnessed the rescue alerted neighbors, who surrounded the store and wrestled Jacob away from the police and killed him on the spot.

• "Adorable girl, 4, almost eaten by wild animal seconds after stepping out of stunning $2.3m home"--Daily Mail. Okay, not gruesome, but still unnerving. 

    A little girl was almost dragged away by a coyote seconds after stepping outside her family's stunning $2.3 million home in a ritzy Seattle suburb.  

    Chang Tong was right behind his daughter Lena when she stepped outside their gorgeous Craftsman home and was immediately attacked by the wild dog on Tuesday.

    Tong said they thought the gray-and-white canine was a pet dog, so Lena reached out to pet it - but it responded by latching its jaws onto her palm and dragging her.

The girl's father was able to scare the animal away, but imagine if the girl had gone outside on her own.

• Literally FAFO: "Ex-con decapitated man who impregnated his wife while he was in prison: cops"--New York Post.

    An ex-con strangled and decapitated a man who impregnated his wife while he was locked up in prison, authorities say.

    The victim’s hands were chopped off, too — and one was later found by a 5-year-old boy in a mail box.

    Anthony Newton, 45, is now charged in the gruesome murder of Ulisys “Cesar” Molina, whose burned, dismembered body was found in a vacant lot outside Las Vegas in 2017 after his family reported him missing, according to KLAS.

The article also observes that "Molina’s head and other hand were never found."

• "Months After Student's Remains Were Found in Well, Authorities Discovered More of Him — but Still Don't Know How He Died"--People. 

    Authorities in Texas have confirmed that a human rib found last December belonged to Texas A&M student Caleb Harris, whose remains were found in a wastewater well months earlier.

    The latest update into the tragic death of the college student came on Friday, March 28, when the Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) said a city employee at the Greenwood Water Recycling Plant found the bone on Dec. 2, 2024.

    “The Greenwood Water Recycling Plant is the same location where the contents of the Perry Place lift station were transported to in June 2024, following the discovery of Caleb Harris's remains,” authorities continued.

Useful or Useless?

I don't know how many of you use a linear compensator on a rifle. The idea behind such compensators is to direct the blast forward of the weapon instead of to the sides as is normal for most muzzle devices. You can see where this would be a benefit for someone shooting at a range where shooters are crammed in quite close beside one another, or other situations where shooters may be operating in close proximity to each other. But what if there are times you want to also keep your standard flash hider?

    The Firearm Blog reports (announced?) that Strike Industries is releasing what they call their A2 Blast Shield which is designed to fit over the standard A2 flash hider, and act like a linear compensator "to reduce side concussion and redirect muzzle blast forward, this blast shield is geared toward both professional and civilian shooters looking to enhance comfort without replacing legacy muzzle devices." The article (press release?) continues by noting that "[r]ather than removing a functioning A2 device—which can be difficult or even damage your rifle—this new blast shield is simple and risk-free to install." Given the sometimes difficult nature of getting the timing correct when installing a flash hider, or most people lacking the equipment to hold the barrel and receiver in place while cranking down on a crush washer, I can see how this could be useful to some shooters. But what do you think? Useful or useless?

Deadline: Snow Woke Will Lose Disney $115 Million

 At least that is what Deadline is predicting in its article, "‘Snow White’, Poisoned By Controversy At Box Office, Won’t Have A Happy Ending With $115M Loss: What Went Wrong." 

Snow White per our forecasts will clear $295M in revenues from $101M in global film rentals, $62M in worldwide home entertainment, $130M in streaming and TV revenues, and $2M from merchandise. Note that when Disney+ buys the title from itself for its streaming window, it’s not a quick and easy calculation of 10% of domestic box office, as was the case back in the days of Pay 1 windows. Rather, it’s a more byzantine computation based on myriad factors, I’ve been told. Counter this with $410M in feature expenses that are comprised of a $270M net production price tag (thanks to the starts and stops due to the strikes, and a fire on the UK set), a $111M global P&A and $29M in residuals and other expenses. 

"$101M in global film rentals" means that they are estimating that the total box office take will be just a little over $200M since theaters keep roughly half of the box office.

    But the article goes on to state that the movie isn't bad and it was just the negative publicity from social media that brought it down. But Rotten Tomatoes tells a different story with only 40% of critics giving it a positive rating and an audience score of 74%. But that isn't really the whole story, either. The 40% rating is among all critics. If you click on the metric, a pop-up shows that when considering "top critics" the score drops to 29%. And the audience score is even worse. The 74% is among "verified audience," which only includes those reviewers that purchased tickets to the film through Fandango. If you select "all audience", then the ratings decline to 19%.

How Many Died Because Of Covid In China?

 A few interesting videos on China's population. The first and second videos question how many have died from the pandemic, suggesting that hundreds of millions may have died. The first video takes note of reports coming out of China seeming showing mostly empty streets, trains, and shopping malls that should have been packed, suggesting that the populations are shrinking. The second is similar, but has more video of villages that seemingly have been abandoned.

    The third video is longer. The woman who produced that video has, in the past, argued that China's population based on birth and death statistics is actually around 800 million, not the 1.4 billion cited by the government. Now she argues that the repeated pandemics have reduced the population to between 300 and 400 million. 

    I obviously have no way of verifying any of this. I don't travel to China and have no special sources of information. Perhaps we are seeing videos that are faking the scenes of mostly empty streets or malls, showing them in the early morning when there is little traffic but claiming it to be rush hour or another busy time of day. China has for years been encouraging younger workers to return to the countryside in order to fight youth unemployment in the cities, and perhaps it has finally worked. 

    Or perhaps China's economy has tanked and people simply don't have the money to be shopping or going out to eat, and factories and businesses have shut down. I would note in this regard a two-part article from George Calhoun at Forbes entitled: "The Missing Factor In Explanations Of China’s Economic Distress: COVID - Part 1: The Cover-Up" and "The Missing Factor In Explanations Of China’s Economic Distress: COVID – Part 2: Estimating The True Death Toll." He argues that Covid was, in fact, the missing factor to explain why China's economy did not come rushing back after Covid restrictions were lifted; and it was because the death toll was much larger than official statistics (but in the millions, not hundreds of millions). He indicates that "[t]he total over four years from 2019-2022 amounts to about 1.6 million excess deaths. (2023 added another 800,000 'excess deaths' above the pre-COVID baseline.)" The 800,000 figure may, itself, also be low: the CDC published a paper in October 2023 which concluded that "SARS-CoV-2 infections caused 1.41 million deaths in China during December 2022–February 2023."

    And, finally, China has seen an outbreak of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) earlier this year, so perhaps the Chinese people were self-isolating.

VIDEO: "People are discovering the truth of COVID & China’s real population"
Lei's Real Talk (15 min).

VIDEO: "Apocalypse Begins! Hundreds of Millions Disappear in China, Massive Abandoned Villages Found" -- China Observer (17 min.)

VIDEO: "The Vanishing Billion: Exposing China’s Population Myth"
Lei's Real Talk (52 min.)

China Loses Out On Large Fighter Aircraft Contract With Saudi Arabia

I'm seeing reports that Saudi Arabia has rejected entering into a deal with China to purchase China's J-35 stealth fighter jet. This is being reported as a "a major blow to Chinese President Xi Jinping's Middle East strategy, as he wanted powerful Gulf nations to replace their American-made armaments with Chinese weaponry. According to experts, Xi Jinping hoped that if Gulf powers like Saudi Arabia purchased China's J-35 fighter jet, it would shut the door for American weapons in the Middle East, besides increasing Beijing's weapon sales." So far, the only foreign purchaser China has found for the aircraft was Pakistan, which may have only done so under pressure from China.

    At issue may have been actual or perceived shortcomings. As the MSN article above relates:

    Although cheaper than its Western-made counterparts, such as the F-35, China's J-35 stealth fighter is marred by the perceived quality and reliability of Chinese military hardware. This was evident at the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia in February 2024, when J-35's predecessor, the FC-31, failed to secure any buyers. 

    The reliability of Chinese weaponry, while largely perceptional, are not completely unfounded, as they have been well documented. Chinese-made CH-4 drones have reportedly witnessed numerous operational failures in Libya and Yemen, while Chinese air defense systems such as the HQ-9 lagged behind Western competitors in live tests, resulting in potential buyer opting for Western-made systems. 

Rather, Riyadh has decided to join a UK-Italy-Japan consortium to develop a 6th generation fighter aircraft. Saudi Arabia is also considering purchasing 100 units of Turkey's next generation "KAAN" fighters, and has approached U.S., French and other European manufacturers about procuring updated fighter aircraft.