Washington Post: "'Good guys with guns' can be dangerous, too."

          As you probably have heard, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the national reciprocity bill for concealed weapons permits. The vote, as expected, was primarily along party lines, with only 6 Democrats supporting the bill, and 14 Republicans defecting to the other side. The Washington Examiner article, to which I have cited, reports:

        While Democrats argued the concealed carry legislation would only add to gun violence, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the legislation is the best way "not to infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens, but to enforce the laws against criminals." 

         "This bill is about the simple proposition that law-abiding Americans should be able to exercise their right to self defense, even when they cross out of their states' borders," he said last week. "That is their constitutional right." 

           But Democrats angrily opposed the bill, and said it makes no sense to consider legislation easing rules for gun owners after so many tragic shootings around the country. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., whose district includes Newtown, where 20 children were shot to death in 2012, called the bill an "outrage." 

         "This will should be called the Act to Carry Any Gun, Anywhere, Any Time, by Anyone," she said. "The Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill is an outrage and an insult to the families in Newtown and to the hundreds of families who have lost loved ones to gun violence who are gathered here today, at the Capitol, for the fifth annual vigil on gun violence."

You might be confused by Esty's argument against the bill since it makes no sense: a "good guy with a gun" could have stopped the shooting spree at the Newton school, if the closest "good guy with a gun" hadn't been miles away. But that is exactly what the Democrats want to ensure is that there are no good guys with guns anyway near a crime scene. The Truth About Guns caught this argument from The Washington Post that succinctly sets out the liberal position: "‘Good guys with guns’ can be dangerous, too."

         The Washington Post has a point:

• “A CBS4 Investigation has learned Arapahoe County Deputies and Colorado State Troopers poured more than 50 shots into a stationary car in March believing the driver was armed. It now turns out she was only armed with either a dustbuster or tire jack but emerged unscathed. However at least one deputy inadvertently shot up a marked state patrol unit during the unusual standoff.”
• Or who can forget this debacle from the Los Angeles Police Department: "Police Officers Who Shot at Two Innocent Women 103 Times Won't Be Fired." You might remember that incident; it is where the police confused two small Hispanic women for a large (over 6 feet tall) black male, not even getting the color of the vehicle correct.
• Or this: "NYPD: 9 shooting bystander victims hit by police gunfire."
• Or this: "Two California police officers accidentally shoot each other while trying to tackle a man with a knife, who was also shot in the fracas."
•  Et cetera.

And there is the fact that law enforcement regularly lose firearms. Such as today's headline from The Daily Mail: "Shocking moment brazen burglar steals assault rifle, ammunition and a tactical vest from a marked police car in Florida."

       Nevertheless, we still allow police to carry and use firearms because we recognize the benefit of doing so outweighs the downsides to doing so. So, even if "bearing weapons" wasn't a right, the same logic applies to concealed weapons carriers.

Video: "Don't Talk To The Police"

"Don't Talk To The Police"--Regent University School of Law (47 min.).

        This is a must see for anyone that walks, drives or breaths--especially if you carry a weapon for self-defense. This includes not only a short presentation by the law professor, James Duane, but a guest presentation from a police officer discussing how he goes about questioning suspects. Also read the The Truth About Knives article (linked to below).

       The short take is that police are not going to play fair in questioning, especially if they feel that you have broken a law. For example, around here, if you get pulled over for speeding, the first question is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't type: "How fast were you going?" If you say you don't know, then you have opened yourself up to a citation for inattentive driving. If you say that you though you were going "X" miles per hour (a few miles per hour over the speed limit), you had admitted to speeding.

       And remember that everything you say to the police is an admission against interest, which is not considered hearsay. But everything the police say to you is probably going to be considered hearsay.

       Anyway, watch the video and read the article. I'll try and have some more thoughts this weekend.

(H/t The Truth About Knives).

Protests Erupt in Palestinian Occupied Territories

(Source)

Palestinians have reverted to norm, acting like spoiled 2-year olds and throwing a temper tantrum now that the United States has officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Daily Mail reports:

        Violent protests have broken out in the West Bank today after US President Donald Trump enraged the Middle East by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital. 

        Palestinians torched debris and hurled rocks towards Israeli troops who fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse a demonstration in Bethlehem. 

       Medics said 31 people have been injured by Israeli army gunfire during clashes in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip with rallies underway in the cities of Nablus, Jenin and Ramallah. In Hebron and Al-Bireh, thousands of demonstrators marched with chants of 'Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine', witnesses said. 

        It comes after Trump sparked fury with his White House announcement yesterday, which changed decades of American policy and sparked warnings from Hamas of a new intifada, or uprising, against Israel. 

        Amid growing fears of fresh bloodshed in the region, the Islamist group said the President had 'opened the gates of hell' with his 'flagrant aggression' while a pro-Hezbollah newspaper in Lebanon has declared 'Death to America' on a front page showing a burning US flag.  

        This morning, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Trump of throwing the Middle East into a 'ring of fire' and compared him to a 'blender' stirring up trouble in the area. The Country's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the US 'has pulled the pin on a bomb ready to blow in the region.'

 (Another article from The Daily Mail, and one from the BBC).

A Day To Live In Infamy -- Today Is The 76th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor

(Source)

Jihadists Threaten San Diego LDS Temple

From the San Diego Reader:

         On November 29 a jihadist media group published an image suggesting San Diego could be in the crosshairs of terrorists this holiday season. The San Diego California Temple in University City appears to be their target of choice. 

         An image of a terrorist holding an assault rifle was superimposed on the Mormon temple, which appears to be on fire. The two towering spires rise up on either side of the jihadist. A statement at the bottom of the image reads, “Coming Soon..#San_Diego.” The words “Coming Soon” are wrapped in Christmas decorations and splattered with red.

Pamela Geller sardonically observes: "Apparently American’s most famous Mormon, Mitt Romney, garnered no favor when he insisted that Islam is not a violent faith."

December 6, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Winter Survival Cooking" -- Survival Russia (14 min.)

• A new Woodpile Report is up. A couple articles in particular caught my attention, both having to do with global cooling. First was an article entitled "Anyone who says we’re enduring 'unprecedented global warming' is lying or woefully misinformed" which notes that current global temperatures are well below normal, and only two periods in the last 600,000 years have had lower temperatures. The second, "Signs Show Planet Entering A New Dalton Minimum…Solar Cycle 24 Continues To Be Weakest In 200 Years!" which notes that "[l]ooking at the entire solar cycle, the current cycle is only 56% as active as the mean solar cycle (shown in blue below), which is calculated from the previous 23 solar cycles." This is on top of some solar models indicating that the Sun will be much less energetic during the 2030s than even now.
• "More than 1,000 firefighters battle California inferno"--Reuters. The fire, near Ventura, California, is being fanned by the famed Santa Ana winds. So far it has consumed over 50,000 acres, and there are 12,000 homes being threatened by the fire. More than 250,000 homes are without power. The blaze had started on Monday, which gives you an idea how rapidly a range fire can spread under the right conditions.
• Coincidence? "Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station are evacuated after two fires fill busy transport hubs with thick smoke"--Daily Mail. 
• Remington has announced the release of their 870 DM line of shotguns (and TAC-14 firearm), which feed from a detachable 6-round box magazine rather than a magazine tube. A list (and photos) of the various models, including MSRP pricing, can be found here. And both The Firearms Blog and The Truth About Guns have initial reviews of the Remington 870 DM Magpul Tactical version, which features Magpul furniture, ghost-ring sights, and a compensator. Mechanically, these are 870s, so none of the reviews found much to complain about as to actually working and firing the weapons. The firearms have a paddle release on the front of the magazine well, which means that magazine changes are performed by gripping the magazine (including the paddle) and pulling the magazine free. The magazines insert straight up into the magazine well. Presumably, these are NOT compatible with Saiga magazines. And no price on the magazines. I would expect that Mossberg will probably be releasing their own box magazine models soon enough.
• "Bad Survival Math: Fail to Recognize Assaultive Behavior + Denial =Throat Cut"--Active Response Training.  Greg Ellifritz deconstructs a knife attack reported in the news, including key points where the victim should have been aware of the impending attack, but chose to ignore the warning signs (walking on a clear trajectory toward her) and, then after the attack started, expecting a passerby to assist her. As Ellifritz notes, assistance from a passerby or witness is somewhat iffy--this is known as the bystander effect: "a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present." 

        The classic example of the bystander effect is the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City in 1964, where numerous witnesses allegedly failed to render assistance and ignored screams for help from Genovese who stabbed and severely wounded by her attacker, who then left because he thought her cries for help would draw attention, then later returned and killed Genovese. The story was sensationalized by The New York Times, and, true to form, was later revealed to have grossly misreported and misrepresented the facts. In fact, when The New York Times came clean in 2016, it reported:

While there was no question that the attack occurred, and that some neighbors ignored cries for help, the portrayal of 38 witnesses as fully aware and unresponsive was erroneous. The article grossly exaggerated the number of witnesses and what they had perceived. None saw the attack in its entirety. Only a few had glimpsed parts of it, or recognized the cries for help. Many thought they had heard lovers or drunks quarreling. There were two attacks, not three. And afterward, two people did call the police. A 70-year-old woman ventured out and cradled the dying victim in her arms until they arrived. Ms. Genovese died on the way to a hospital.

Thus, it is, in fact, a very poor example as to the bystander effect because people had indeed heard her initial cries for help and called the police. But Genovese had made her way into the vestibule at the back entrance of the apartment building, and so was no longer visible. (The police did not initially respond, thinking that it was a domestic dispute). When her attacker returned and found her, she was no longer in view or hearing of bystanders. Nevertheless, her final cries were heard by a neighbor who found her and tried to help her, and police were called. Unfortunately, as noted earlier, Genovese died en route to the hospital.

        Of course, not everyone stands by. Some choose to be heroes. One conspicuous example of this is Arland D. Williams, Jr., a passenger aboard Air Florida Flight 90, which crashed on take-off into the Potomac River on January 13, 1982. 78 people died in the crash. Williams was one of the few survivors. What is notable is that he refused to be rescued, instead repeatedly passing the rescue loop dangling from a helicopter to other survivors, until he was finally overcome by the cold water. He posthumously received the Carnegie Medal. The latter article observes:

        Because only pure, spontaneous do-gooders are eligible for the Carnegie Medal (not professional lifesavers or protective parents), the Carnegie archives are now a historical record of people who really shouldn't be heroes.

        And so, after sifting through more than a century's worth of Carnegie case studies, three intriguing factors snap into focus.

         1. Lots of guys are risking their lives: Since 1904 the Carnegie Commission has seen over 80,000 cases of extreme heroism.

         2. "Guys" is exactly the right word; nine out of every 10 Carnegie heroes have been men. That means about 800 men are hurtling themselves into danger every year. And there's no telling how many other men are risking their lives with no recognition at all.

        3. If you want a Carnegie Medal, prepare to die trying. Heroism is a lethal business; during a typical 5-year stretch, nearly one in four Carnegie Medals was bestowed upon a corpse. ...

Although I can't find the article now, I remember reading that there was another factor at play: a disproportionate number of the people that receive the medal were raised in small towns. In any event, when there is violence, it helps if the bystander is armed.

• "Exercise changes gut bacteria in just six weeks and could prevent bowel cancer, according to the first study of its kind - but there is a catch"--Daily Mail. The gut bacteria at issue is one that produces butyrate: "an anti-inflammatory acid that has been linked to protection against bowel cancer, as well as weight loss and stronger immunity." The catch is that if you become sedentary again, your gut bacteria will revert to what it was before you started exercising.
• "How to Buy a 1911 From the Civilian Marksmanship Program"--The Truth About Guns. Although some of the details are up in the air, this at least provides you with the paperwork hurdles you will face.
• A scientific paper explaining why mass immigration spells the suicide of the West: "The Evolutionary Dominance of Ethnocentric Cooperation"--Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. Key line from the abstract: "Here we show that ethnocentrism eventually overcomes its closest competitor, humanitarianism, by exploiting humanitarian cooperation across group boundaries as world population saturates."
• "Rifle Ammunition and Soft Body Armor"--The Firearms Blog. Most everyone knows that soft body armor, as it is sold to law enforcement and the public, is incapable of stopping modern rifle rounds. But what about a lot of it--just piling it on deep? 

The panels we had available were a Gall’s Lite level IIA, CATI level IIIA, and two groin protectors from IBA armor, which are approximately equivalent to level IIIA. This is, of course, a great deal more than any person is likely to be wearing at one time so if it can’t stop the threat, it seems safe to conclude that soft armor is ineffective against rifles under any reasonable conditions.

For the ammunition, the author indicates that he chose the ".300 AAC Sellier & Bellot 147 gr FMJ because it is significantly slower than many other rifle rounds." And the results?

The results are pretty conclusive. As you can see in the high speed, the bullet slammed through all four armor panels, six inches of ballistic gel, and five gallon jugs of water. That means that it didn’t just barely get through; it had a great deal of hate left inside it, even after slicing through all that armor. 

• "Why are Colt 14.5 Socom Barrels So Accurate?"--The New Rifleman. Because they are thicker in all the right places for reducing barrel whip, i.e., improved "harmonics."
• Here we go again .... "DOJ, ATF To Reconsider Whether to Ban Bump Fire Stocks"--The Truth About Guns.
• A hidden bomb in the National Reciprocity bill? Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, has stated that the bill would encourage states to add more names to the NICS list of prohibited persons, and that warns that the Reciprocity portion might be stripped from the bill. However, the NRA has hit back, saying that the text of the bill doesn't expand NICS beyond what is already required.
• Diversity is our strength: "In FY2017, ICE ERO conducted 143,470 overall administrative arrests, which is the highest number of administrative arrests over the past three fiscal years. Of these arrests, 92 percent had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, were an ICE fugitive or were processed with a reinstated final order."
• Wallet Hub has released its list of the top 10 safest cities in the U.S., as well as the 10 least safe cities. See if you can find any distinguishing factors:

Here’s a look at WalletHub’s Top 10 safest cities for 2017:

1. Nashua, NH
2, South Burlington, VT
3. Warwick, RI
4. Columbia, MD
5. Gilbert, AZ
6. Fargo, ND
7. Lewiston, ME
8. Plano, TX
9. Portland, ME
10. Brownsville, TX 

Here’s a look at WalletHub’s LEAST safest cities for 2017:

173. Jackson, MS
174. Baton Rouge, LA
175. Chattanooga, TN
176. Orlando, FL
177. Little Rock, AR
178. Detroit MI
179. Oklahoma City, OK
180. San Bernardino, CA
181. St. Louis, MO
182. Fort Lauderdale, FL

• "America faces one of the worst flu seasons ever as doctors warn the vaccine is only 10% effective this year - and infections are already on the rise"--Daily Mail.
• Don't know much about history .... "'It's long overdue': Trump stands by his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital despite international fury on all sides as he's accused of 'declaring war against 1.5 billion Muslims'"--Daily Mail. West Jerusalem has alloted to Israel under the U.N. mandate, and has been Israel's capital since the nation's inception. Israel came into possession of East Jerusalem after a failed invasion by neighboring countries, including Jordan (which previously had controlled East Jerusalem). So, it is wholly appropriate to locate the embassy in Jerusalem. Moreover, so what if it offends Muslims? Our very existence offends Muslims.

December 4, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Awesome Food For The Outdoors|How To Make Salted Meat With Spices"--Survival Russia (12 min.). He also has a follow-up video describing how his grandmother salted meat.

• I have followed the Survival Lilly channel on YouTube since fairly early on. However, due to YouTube's demonetization of anything that it deems politically incorrect, she has had to start a second channel--Survival Lilly Restricted--and move certain content (mostly her hunting and firearm related videos) to that channel. So, check it out and subscribe.
• "AR-15 Muzzle Brake Shootout #3"--The Truth About Guns. An updated comparison with some new entries and old favorites. This time, the best brake (i.e., the one with the greatest recoil reduction) was the SJC Titan Compensator. However, this is not one to be used in dim light or indoors as the flash and concussion looks pretty awesome.
• Western Rifle Shooters Association indicates that Matt Bracken is making his books free for download from Amazon over this week with different books available on different days. Unfortunately, this started Sunday, so one book is out of the picture. However, his latest, The Red Cliffs of Zerhoun, will be a free download on Friday.
• "DNO Firearms DX-7 Modernized AK Rifle"--The Firearms Blog. Their version of the AK has an aluminum receiver that tips up for access to the guts, similar to the AR. This also means that it has a fixed rail for optics. The charging handle has been shifted to the left side of the weapon, and their is a selector lever similar to the AR and other modern sporting rifles. It appears to retain the same trigger assembly, bolt, bolt carrier, gas system and barrel as the original. It is not yet available for sale, but the company has said that final price should be around $1,000.
• Heh. "An unexpected threat to Chinese warships"--Bayou Renaissance Man. Due to overfishing and pollution, the South China Sea is chock full of jellyfish. And they don't play well with cooling intakes on China's new aircraft carrier. 

Once in the cooling vents, they get mashed into a thick, sticky soup.

This blocks the cooling system, causing the engines to overheat and bringing the warship to a halt.

It then reportedly takes days to clear the pipes.

So now the carrier has to be proceeded by a tugboat towing huge nets and shredders that catch the jellyfish (and anything else that gets caught up) and turn them into fine chum. 

• "No Francis, Your SBR isn’t as Good as a Rifle at 600 yards: The Value of Velocity"--New Rifleman. A 2015 article in which the author notes:

        The problem with assuming the SBR is as good as other platforms at a distance stems from a community with a limited grasp on ballistics. At known distances, modern optical sighting systems allow you to dial in dope with an extreme degree of precision and repeatability. Punch in your data, and your I-phone can tell you exactly how many clicks to go up in order to hit that silhouette at 900 yards…

         The difficulty comes when the shooter is in a field scenario where he (or she) is under a time constraint to hit a target of varying size presentation at an unknown distance. At this point, if our target is going to present for only a few seconds, there is little to no time to dial in dope or to accurately estimate the exact target distance. Our chance of hitting that target will be highest with a projectile which that shoots as flat as possible, and that is a balance of ballistic coefficient and velocity.

• "Hornady SBR Ammo"--Rifleshooter Magazine. Discussion and review of Hornady's 75-grain 5.56 mm round designed for use out of a short-barrel system. From the article:

Hornady’s new 5.56 75-grain InterLock HD SBR Black load penetrates very well while reliably expanding. Hornady’s testing using an 11.5 inch barrel showed it to penetrate to an average depth of 17 inches in bare 10 percent ordnance gel; 14.7 inches when the gel was protected by FBI protocol steel barrier; 17.2 inches after penetrating a wall board barrier; 16.7 inches through a plywood barrier; and 15.2 inches through an auto glass barrier. In bare gel it expanded to .46 inch and had a retained weight of 69.5 grains, or 93 percent.

I would like to see the results in ballistic gelatin after going through heavy clothing, though. 

• "How Prayers Saved My Life And Those Of Many American Soldiers During The First Iraq War"-- Douglas V. Mastriano at The Federalist. Some interesting anecdotes, including this: 

        A swift and easy victory over the Iraqi Army was not a foregone conclusion. During the buildup to war, we were told to anticipate high casualties and a hard fight against our adversaries. This is where prayer made the difference. Our chief concern was the Iraqi Army using chemical weapons once we attacked.

        All the indications were that Saddam would do this. Baghdad used chemical weapons extensively during its long war against Iran (1980-1988), and even against its own Kurdish people (1988). The prevailing winds generally blew out of Iraqi into Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This meant that the environment favored Iraqi use of chemical weapons. Yet prayer changed the course of nature and perhaps the outcome of the war.

         The Second Armored Cavalry Regiment began the attack into Iraq the day before the actual ground war. Artillery and U.S. Air Force aircraft bombarded forward Iraq positions while our tanks advanced. As the first of our tanks crossed into Iraq at 1:30 p.m. on 23 February 1991, I witnessed the wind literally change direction from its northwesterly prevailing course to a southwesterly one.

          I was speechless, for as the unit’s intelligence officer (S2), I spoke often of the problem the prevailing winds posed. The wind change meant the Iraqi Army could not use chemical weapons, as the wind would blow it back on its own troops. The precise timing of this can only be the result of prayer.

• "The First & Last SAW: Why the Squad Belt-Fed Is a Dead End (Brief Thoughts 005)"--Nathaniel F. at The Firearms Blog. Nathan argues that the SAW is too inaccurate and too heavy (particularly considering its ammunition requirements) to continue to serve as a viable squad level weapon, particularly when compared to the Marine Corps' M27 IAR. 
• "Charlottesville report tells us what happens when the police fail to do their job"--USA Today.
• Energy independence: "GOP Senate Opens ANWR to Oil Drilling"--PJ Media. The bill opens up less than 10% of the ANWR to drilling, so the environmental impact will be minimal, but gives us access to billions of barrels of oil.
• More energy independence: "Trump shrinks Utah monuments angering environmentalists"--BBC News. The liberals don't like it when the "I have a phone and a pen" is in Republican hands. The two monuments are the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. These two monuments have been reduced in scope and split into 5 monuments. The Bears Ears National Monument was created by Obama as a final "screw you" to Utah. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was created by Bill Clinton in 1996 as an end run around Congress, which was split over whether to create a wilderness area and how large to make it. At the time, it was believed that he had twisted the purpose of the antiquities act, which was never intended to set aside such huge amounts of land. It also created a whole slew of problems and issues over access to property for other land owners (the largest of which was Utah) and disputes over who owned existing roads. The Federal government eventually traded land and paid off Utah over the state land, but the other disputes simmered.

         Of course, as with all things Clinton, Bill's motive was not purely because he loved the outdoors. Rather, a portion of the monument, the Kaiparowitz Plateau, is estimated to contain 7 billion tons of low-sulfur, high-BTU coal, which was going to be mined by Kentucky-based company Andalux Resources (sub-surface mining, at that). However, this rich of coal deposits of this type of clean burning coal is only replicated in two other areas of the world--a deposit in Columbia which was years from development, and the coal fields of South Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. And, by coincidence, the latter fields were being developed the Lippo Group: "a powerful $5 billion Indonesian conglomerate, founded and owned by the Riady family who, it turned out, had raised and funneled millions of dollars into [Clinton] campaign coffers." And in another coincidence, "Entergy Group of Little Rock [Arkansas], in partnership with the Lippo Group of Hong Kong, signed a memorandum of understanding with the North China Power Corporation for the cooperative management and expansion of the $1 billion 1,200 megawatt coal-fired Daton 2 power plan in Shanxi Province."

         Needless to say, this change--something promised by Trump during his campaign (can you believe it, a politician that keeps his campaign promises)--removes the coal rich portion of the Kaiparowitz Plateau from the national monuments. Nevertheless, Trump didn't completely revoke what his predecessors had done--the 5 new monuments will still comprise in excess of 1 million acres. Which seems like a nice compromise for the competing interests. But, then, liberals don't actually believe in compromising.

• The Earth creates global warming gases: "Study suggests hydrogen, oxygen, water and carbon dioxide generated in Earth's mantle"--Phys.org. More bad think: these are also the raw materials for petroleum, meaning that oil may be continuously produced by natural processes. 

Video: "Red Dot Sight Fuzzy? Here's What to Do"

--by TWANGnBANG (10-1/2 min.)

          TWANGnBANG discusses astigmatisms and red-dot sights, including how to determine whether it is your red dot or your eyes; as well as offering up some suggestions (such as getting glasses or contacts to correct for the condition, or using a rear peep sight in conjunction with the red-dot). The problem with an astigmatism is that rather than having a crisp, clear dot, it may appear blurry or smeared, even if you otherwise have good vision. Another video on this same topic is offered up by the MyCold DeadHands channel, entitled "ASTIGMATISM, RED DOTS, THERE IS A CURE" (5-1/2 min.).

Video: "Solar Flares and the Global Electric Circuit"

by Suspicious Observers (2-1/2 min.).

        This video discusses a paper on magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction, the impact of solar wind, and diagrams the electric circuit (for those of you that know how to read a circuit diagram).

December 1, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"Ancient CHAKRAM (Xena EDC) / Heavy Duty ARROW Knife (Ultimate Throwing Test)"--Adam Celadin (10 min.). The test of the throwing knife is first; the discussion of the chakram starts about the 4 minute mark, and the throwing is about the 6 minutes mark.

• TGIF: This week's Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training. He links to and comments on articles about using a shot timer for training, using tactical lights, how to survive a mass shooting/sniper attack, and gripping a revolver.
• While you are there, check out this article: "Stupid Active Killer Advice." The stupid advice is to pour soup or some other slick liquid on the floors, supposedly to impede the shooter's ability to move around. The problem, as Greg Ellifritz points out, is that it also hampers your ability to move about as well as anyone responding to the shooting.
• Gabe Suarez has recently posted a series of articles on low-light shooting tips and technology:

• "The Role of Lasers on Handguns." A couple points that I particular want to bring to your attention: first, he is adamant that a laser sight must be able to be activated single-handed, preferably by squeezing the grip or a button mounted on the handgun's grip; second, like I've noted in the past, lasers are properly sighted in so the beam is parallel to the bore, rather than intersecting the path of the bullet at pre-determined range (such as with optical sights).

•  "The Truth About Using Lights in a Gunfight." Basically, don't. He asserts that: (1) "The need for completely illuminated target identification has been vastly overblown by lumen-peddling flashlight manufacturers and liability-centric instructors"; (2) if you have children or other persons that you may need to carry or physically shepherd out of harm's way, you will need a one-handed weapon (i.e., a handgun) rather than a rifle or shotgun; (3) you must be able to turn the light on or off while your finger is one the trigger, and it should have a momentary switch; (4) weapon lights should be used sparingly; (5) " Yes, in the real world people get covered with gun muzzles all the time....ALL THE TIME"; and (6)  "The weaponlight is NOT a reactive self defense tool or a necessity," by which he means that if you are attacked, you don't have time to screw around with a light, and almost always will have sufficient light to at least point shoot at an attacker, but rather that the light is used for pro-active searching and pre-planned confrontations.

• "The Truth About Target Identification." Here, Suarez goes into more detail on why you, as a private citizen responding to a "bump in the night" don't generally need to illuminate your target with a light to identify whether it is friend or foe. He discusses how most targets can "at a glance be identified, even in a darkened home by their movements, actions and the process of elimination."

• "The Truth About 'Owning the Darkness'." Suarez discusses a test he conducted during a training class:

        I took a super bright light (that the sales rep donated...sort of) and inserted it into a cardboard target, lens toward the firing line. I took two military police guys in class, and had them face away from the target. They were armed with MP5 SMGs. I had them close their eyes and wait. All the lights on the range had been turned off except for the ostensibly blinding and disorienting flashlight. 

         Their instructions were that when I yelled "fight", they were to turn and engage the source of the light as they moved off the X. As they stood by, I turned on the light in the target bright and even set it to strobing. I then got out of the way and yelled, "fight!"

         In a few seconds, both operators had moved off the X and peppered the target with about twenty rounds each. The flashlight was miraculously not hit, but the target was fairly well destroyed. The bright strobe prevented them from getting a sight picture (like all good guys use), but it did not prevent them from point shooting it a cumulative total of over forty times even if they were "blinded by the light".

        Moral of the story is this - The use of light may identify your threat, but it will also give away your position and safety. 

He goes on to discuss using night vision equipment in conjunction with a handgun.

• "How Technology Owns the Darkness." In this article, Suarez continues his discussion about using night vision equipment with a handgun--specifically, a small hand-held monocular with a handgun.

• "Technology Owns the Darkness." More on why night-vision should be in your basket of tools.

• A reader directed my attention to the following article: "Brian Head Fire led officials to uncover survivalist’s explosive-filled bunkers hidden near makeshift cabins"--Salt Lake Tribune. The firefighters were alerted to the cabin and a nearby cache by the popping of ammunition burning in the fire.

        After the popping stopped, the firefighters hiked to the source of the sound and found a cabin that had burned to the ground. Nearby, the release said, they found a bunker dug into the ground, containing what appeared to be novelty hand grenades that had been altered by drilling out the bottom and plugging the holes with threaded, galvanized pipe plugs. They also saw what appeared to be explosive powder, fuses and ammunition.

           The bunker contained a “large number” of boxes and containers used as food storage, the release said. The firefighters took photos and informed law enforcement.

           The discovery impacted the firefighting. Authorities deemed the items potentially dangerous to firefighters and would allow only airplanes or helicopters to suppress flames in the area.

           On June 30, a bomb squad from Washington County and the FBI removed the explosives from the bunker, while other officers contacted a person of interest at his home in Parowan.

          The person said he owned the cabin and bunker and was responsible for the explosives there. He said he’d purchased, drilled out and threaded the hand grenades and insisted they weren’t an explosive hazard to officials in the area.

          He also told officers there were seven or eight such structures — four of which were cabins with bunkers hidden nearby — throughout the area. Most contain explosives and food storage, and were built over the course of several years, he said.

And to top all of this off, the cabins had all been built on State or Federal owned land. The article mentions that the man had been building and stocking the cabins and caches for a period of about 30 years.