Friday, November 18, 2022

CWP, 18 November MMXXII Anno Domini

 
 Hi Sheepdogs,
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Prevention *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************
 
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
 
". . . be more like Christ, who drove the money changers from the temple,
than Paul, the long-suffering servant."
-- Rod Dreher
 
     If you look at someone bigger, faster, and stronger and immediately think,
'I'm at a disadvantage',  
I have news for you:  you are.  
But that's only because you just put yourself there for no reason.  
     The truth is that anyone can do debilitating violence to anyone else.  
Your size, your speed, your strength, your gender --
all the factors that untrained people think make the difference when it comes to violence --
all matter far less than your mindset and your intent.  
-- Tim Larkin
 
"SPECIAL REPORT:  
KEY PRINCIPALS USE TO WIN EVERY WAR, BATTLE AND FIGHT
by Tim Larking and Lieutenant Colonel Kryštof (Czech SpecOp)
https://m260.keap-link015.com/v2/click/a3f6fd47dbf34aa79f106adeab9955bc/eJyNkMFqwzAQRP9FZxNZimTLvoUQgnGaQ2jPRZVkIhJLwl4XQvC_Z92WnFrocXdn3jB7J-CCDtBYUpOeFznJyOCMT94F2MYA2nzdGF8zJvOMXH247Ic4JVLff_E-z8tSMlmpjMAtOVS8njbbtjnu3w_NsUVp0gNm_AMjFFO54k_Q7mXTHMg8_0l2vYfdJ8JHUsMwuaWS9VgL3oYr6s8AaawpXcJWPnTT6GMYYwcrE3uqU6IasPi5RwQtpeSccWqEUVashS0qwY2qtGYfVYFDWVrOug5z0emC_fla627f6fMDdqpwNA==
 
     Anytime you fight, you must strike first.  Never give the enemy a turn.  It is always your
turn, until the enemy is dead [or incapacitated (or is no longer a threat) ].  
     It's not a fair fight.  It never was a fair fight.  It will never be a fair fight.  
     "I'm not looking for a fair fight.  I'm looking to destroy the enemies of my country as
quickly and efficiently as possible." -- Gen. Colin Powell
     Never make the mistake of thinking any sport is fighting.  It's not.  
     Self-defense is combat.  Self-defense is brutal ruthless attack until the enemy is dead
[or incapacitated (or is no longer a threat) ].  
 
"Fear is an instinct.  Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
 
"Why You Should Carry A Concealed Weapon" by Tom Givens
https://gundigest.com/handguns/concealed-carry/why-you-should-carry-a-concealed-weapon
 
"HARDY - wait in the truck (feat. Lainey Wilson) (Official Music Video)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsMB0i5YTOc
"HARDY - wait in the truck (feat. Lainey Wilson) (CMA Awards 2022 Live Performance)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V74Ppu61-c
     As Andrew Branca says, you've got to be able to wake up in your prison cell after 20 years
and say to yourself, it was worth it.  
     What's the point, Staff?  
     Lainey Wilson. 
 
     I will sleep like a baby.  If I allow the actions of the enemy to disturb my sleep, the enemy
has effectively won from beyond the grave (because I definitely killed him).  So I will sleep
like a baby.  
     My use of lethal force was justified as self-defense or defense of others, and morally
righteous.  I am the hero.  It doesn't matter that the police, prosecutor, and public are too
stupid to understand.  I know.  God knows.  And that's all that matters. 
 
Other guy:  I'm entitled to my own opinion.  
Tom Givens:  No, you're not.  To be entitled to an opinion in a technical field, one should have
specialized training, education, and experience in that field.  Without those, an opinion is
absolutely worthless.  
From "Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
     "Develop and alert, aware state of mind, accepting the fact that violence can occur anytime,
anywhere.  Do not be surprised or astonished that someone is unlawfully attacking you.  Instead
of  “I can't believe this is happening!,” your mental response should be,
“My day at bat.” "
-- Tom Givens
 
Tim Larkin, the 3-Day Test
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OrSlYMO0CP4
 
     "You need to have the capacity for danger.  You need to be ‘dangerous’.  
Yet, you need to learn how to not use it except when necessary.  And, that is not
the same thing as being harmless.  Harmlessness is no virtue.  It's like a rabbit.  
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.  It just means you’re ineffectual
and useless."  
-- Jordan Peterson
 
*************************************************************************
----- Safety -----  (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.  
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.)
 
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety  
RULE I:  ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.  
RULE II:  NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER
     ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III:  KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
     UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV:  BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.  
 
Report a suspected kidnapping IMMEDIATELY!  Never wait for anything.  The first few
minutes are critical.  Don't fear any embarrassment caused by a false alarm.  There is too
much at stake!  Delaying to report is criminal stupidity.  
---
"Kick, Punch, Scream, Bite: Teaching Kids to Resist Criminals" by NRA Family
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/kick-punch-scream-bite-teaching-kids-to-resist-criminals/
Excerpt:  
     It's a scary thought, but there are people out there who are on the prowl for
opportunities to take a child.  Having these important conversations with your
little one can help prevent those opportunities from arising.  
---
"Armed Bystander Saves Child From Suspected Kidnapper" by Luke McCoy    
https://www.usacarry.com/armed-bystander-saves-child-from-suspected-kidnapper/
---
If you don't carry a gun, you may not be able to effect a rescue.
Your intentions don't matter.  All that matters is your capability.  
 
"Happy and Dead?" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/happy-and-dead/
     Dog attacks are common.  Be prepared or suffer the consequences.  
 
"Post Election Violence?" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/post-election-violence
 
"Negative Outcome from Holsterless Carry" by the Tactical Professor
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2022/11/03/negative-outcome-from-holsterless-carry/
 
     "If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.  
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury.  Therefore
what he must fear is his victim."  
-- Col. Jeff Cooper
 
"Lead Management Made Easy!" by Tatiana Whitlock
https://www.agirlandagun.org/lead-management-made-easy/
 
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:  
Don't go to stupid places.  
Don't do stupid things.  
Don't hang out with stupid people.  
Be in bed by 10 PM.  Your own bed.  
Don't look like a freak.  
Don't fail the attitude test.  
 
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
 
     "All trainers are what I call “prisoners of our own experiences.”  This means that our
training, education, and experiences form a prism, through which we see the training world.  
This colors our perception of what skills are important to you, and how they should be
taught.  Since various instructors' backgrounds can be radically different, so can be their
views on teaching."  
-- Tom Givens
 
“Let no man’s ghost say my training has failed him . . . ”  
-- Chris Groez
 
     "Much of what passes for training these days is “edutainment”."
-- Pat Rogers
Via Tom Givens from "Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
     You need training because:  
You don't know what you don't know.  
Much of what you know is false.  
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.  
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
 
"Street Encounter Skills and Tactics" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/street-encounter-skills-and-tactics
     A review of John Murphy's class.
     I have taken classes from John.  I highly recommend him.  
     That "unusual student malfunction" makes me think the student loaded the cartridge in
backwards.  I've had lots of students do that.  
     John Murphy's schedule of courses:  
https://www.fpftraining.com/opening-calendar
     John is teaching here in Nashville, TN.  
Street Encounter Skills and Tactics, Nashville, TN, $425
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/street-encounter-skills-and-tactics-nashville-tn-tickets-227335716247
Sat, Nov 19, 2022, 9:00 AM – Sun, Nov 20, 2022, 5:00 PM CST
Royal Range USA, 7741 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221
 
     In his latest email, John Murphy shares a picture of a gentleman with a 45 ACP bullet lodged
in his forehead.  There is a little blood, but he is otherwise unharmed and fully capable of
combat.  John's caption reads,
"Pistol bullets routinely perform beneath Hollywood established expectations,
even the vaunted .45 ACP.  I do not know the circumstances which lead to him being
rendered into a unicorn, but I am very confident in saying that were he of a mind to fight,
there is nothing stopping him.  Marksmanship and understanding ballistics and anatomy
are key to prevailing in self-defense."  
 
Paladin Training
https://paladintraining.com/
I highly recommed.  
 
Guadian Conference, $650
(this would be their 3rd year, I have attended and highly recommend)
https://guardianconference.com/
September 15th - 17th, 2023 A.D.
Oklahoma City Gun Club
12465 NE 234th St, Arcadia, OK 73007
 
Active Self Protection National Conference 2023 A.D.
https://activeselfprotection.com/
The registration is not up yet.  
Probably in September of 2023.  
 
Tactical Conference, $565 [where all the cool kids go]  
(sold out 4 days after announcement, there is a waiting list)  
https://taccon.info/
Friday – Sunday
March 24-26, 2023 A.D.
8am-6pm each day
Dallas Pistol Club
1830 W Belt Line Rd
Carrollton, TX 75006
 
If you know of any other conferences, please let me know.  
 
"Church Security Team Leader/Instructor Development (Level One)", $450
http://www.ptgtrainingllc.com/church-security-team-leaderinstructor-development.html
---
Dallas Pistol Club 1830 West Belt Line Road Carrollton, TX 75006
Sat, Apr 22, 2023, 8:30 AM – Sun, Apr 23, 2023, 5:00 PM CDT
---
Last Resort Firearms Training 4220 Gravel Pit Road White Hall, AR 71602
Sat, Aug 26, 2023, 8:30 AM – Sun, Aug 27, 2023, 5:00 PM CDT
 
"Combative Pistol Skills" $495
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/combative-pistol-skills-tickets-467963811357
Sat, Feb 25, 2023, 9:00 AM – Sun, Feb 26, 2023, 6:00 PM CST
On Target Shooting Sports in Hermitage, TN
4803 Old Hickory Boulevard Nashville, TN 37076
"Tom has graciously allowed me to teach the course in 2023."  
I assume the "me" refers to Aqil Qadir and his staff at Citizens Safety Academy.  
 
"Take training from different instructors.  
We are all wrong about something."  
-- John Farnam
 
"Gateway Instruction" by Citizens Safety Academy
https://citizenssafety.com/gateway-instruction/
Pictures from first class,
https://www.facebook.com/tiffanyj901/posts/pfbid027KLDDXYSmPtdoLLBAtmWABkPskNkH5mCYjxgHSYhfqzzZSWb2Esu1T6E6mw7ouRgl
 
“The secret of success is this.
Train like it means everything when it means nothing –
so you can fight like it means nothing when it means everything.”
-- Lofty Wiseman
 
CCW Safe Podcast – Episode 109: Mike Ochsner
Hosts Rob High and Phillip Naman are joined by author and firearms trainer Mike Ochsner
to discuss the mental side of firearms training and to discuss Mike’s journey through
developing his training curriculum.  
https://ccwsafe.com/news/ccw-safe-podcast-episode-109-mike-ochsner/
---
     The human is God's masterpiece of creation, complex far beyond human understanding.  
Albert Einstein said we study nature / science to understand the mind of God.  
---
     Sensory disconnect.  All training is not real combat, so there exists a sensory disconnect.  
We are not getting the feedback that we would be getting in combat.  You must be aware
of this in training.  You must be aware of this when planning your training for your students.  
---
     Note Mike's exercises, simple and effective.  Note that he gives his students text and
videos to study before the in person class.  As Dustin Solomon says,
     "An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented."  
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
---
     This is why practicing shooting from awkward positions is so vital.  
---
     Interpreting the meaning of the lights is a level of indirection.  Which is a bad thing.  
 
"THE CHANEY / LAWRENCE INCIDENT" by Massad Ayoob
https://americanhandgunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/HSO91.pdf
Page 70.  Pay special attention to the "learning points in this tragedy".  
Excerpt:  
     "If the brain is fully oxygenated, you can blow the heart out of the body and
the organism can fight for up to 14 seconds."  
 
"New Study: Stress, Training, and the Objective Reasonableness Standard"
by Dr. Simon Baldwin
https://www.forcescience.com/2022/10/new-study-stress-training-and-the-objective-reasonableness-standard/
Excerpt:  
     "More advanced training, as well as higher years of police service, also predicted increased
lethal force decision-making errors."  [Dunning-Kruger effect?  Because what the author
means by "advanced training" is not very. -- Jon Low]  
     Source document,
"A Reasonable Officer:
Examining the Relationships Among Stress, Training, and Performance in a
Highly Realistic Lethal Force Scenario"
by Simon Baldwin, Craig Bennell, Brittany Blaskovits, Andrew Brown1, Bryce Jenkins,
Chris Lawrence, Heather McGale, Tori Semple, and Judith P. Andersen
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.759132/full
 
"New Study Tracks Officers’ Response to Stress During Calls for Service"
by Von Kliem, JD, LL.M
https://www.forcescience.com/2019/11/new-study-tracks-officers-response-to-stress-during-calls-for-service/
Excerpt:  
     ". . . researchers looked at the impact of training and experience on the stress responses
identified in this study.  They found that the officers’ demographic (e.g. age, sex, etc.),
experience, and operational skills training did not significantly impact (or mitigate) stress
induced heart rates."  
     Source document,
"Stress-Activity Mapping: Physiological Responses During General Duty Police Encounters"
by Simon Baldwin, Craig Bennell1, Judith P. Andersen, Tori Semple, and Bryce Jenkins
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02216/full
 
     Chris Sajnog says, "It’s a proven fact that you’re more likely to use excessive force if
you’re out of shape for the simple fact that you cannot discharge your duties as trained
because you cannot keep up with a given use of force situation, so you resort to an action
that may get you in a bind."  
     As we said in the Marine Corps, fat bodies suck.  If the officers didn't remove them
from our units, we would.  Because they will get you killed in combat, not just themselves.  
Being fat changes your attitude.  You end up rationalizing all of your short comings,
instead of fixing them.  
     "It's my genes.  I can't do anything about it."
     Bullshit!  Stop drinking soda pop.  Exercise!  Stop eating.  Stretch!  Stop watching TV.  
Walk around the squad bay!  Run around the barracks!  You should be running so fast that
it is impossible for you to whine, complain, bitch about anything, because you are gasping
for air.  If you run so fast for so long that you vomit, you're on your way to losing weight
and achieving fitness.  [The guys on the Columbia University crew team would ask each
other, did you vomit?  Because if you hadn't, you just weren't putting everything into the
rowing machine.  (Sculling is when a rower holds two oars, one in each hand.  
Sweep rowing is when a rower holds one oar with both hands.) ]  
     “Many police SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) units train hard and long and maintain
high standards of physical conditioning.  But whether your tac team does this or not, you
must stay in shape, or you’ll begin avoiding strain subconsciously by dashing at a low trot
when you should low-crawl, or walking conspicuously around a wall rather than pulling
yourself invisibly over it.  Poor shape, laziness, and bad tactics go hand-in-hand.”
– “The Ultimate Sniper” by Maj. John Plaster, U.S. Army retired, Paladin Press,
Revised edition January 2006, page 7.  
ISBN-10: 1581604947
ISBN-13: 978-1581604948
 
     Please read the following.  This is very important.  Yes, self-defense / combat is this
complicated (for the good guy, not so much for the bad guy because he doesn't care).  
"Why There’s No Off Ramp:
Police Firearms Training Prevents De-escalation"
by Dustin P. Solomon
https://www.buildingshooters.com/police-firearms-training-prevents-de-escalation/
Excerpts:  
     "Defining skill sequence performance is used during training for range control,
ammunition management, and to enable empirical performance measurement.  
These are all critical components of safe and effective firearms training.  Unfortunately,
the operational impacts may be neither safe, nor effective."  
     "The result of these two firearms training features (modeled in detail later in this article)
is that the neurological circuits that are constructed during skills training exclude
connectivity to the centers of the brain that can alter skill performance.  De-escalation that
both can and should happen in the real world does not. This is not due to malice or ignorance.  
It occurs because of performance limitations that are created by our methods of training."  
     "At a systemic level this is not because police officers are screwed up or intentionally
using deadly force when they should not. It is instead an inevitable and unavoidable
byproduct of how we train people with firearms."  
     "On the one hand, this is what we want–automaticity of performance that is not greatly
impacted by stress or other events.  On the other hand, the desire for automatic performance
assumes that we have decided to do the right thing.  Unfortunately this is not always true."  
     "What does this mean for us as trainers?  It means that the process of becoming good
at shooting inhibits the ability to de-escalate."  
     [John Murphy tells me that he is having lunch with Dustin Solomon next week.  I expect
to hear more after that meeting. -- Jon Low]
 
"Reactionary Zones Definition of Success:
To understand more about pairing the decisional process
with the lack of time and managing space."  
by Shelley Hill
http://www.thecompletecombatant.com/online-reactionary-zones.html
     Review of the class by Claude Werner,
"AAR – Reactionary Zones"
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2022/11/07/aar-reactionary-zones/
     Shelley Hill bio,
https://www.imagebaseddecisionaldrills.com/shelley-hill.html
 
     "This video is as faithful a recording and reproduction of Dave Spaulding's final class
on the east coast.  Dave is closing out Handgun Combatives and wanted to send it off
with one final hoorah in the form of a 5 day class that rolls all of the disciplines taught
in his Handgun Combatives program into one epic class." -- Tier 1 Citizen
"Handgun Combatives: Legacy Class / Day 1 of 5" by Tier 1 Citizen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAJm6VTv8kQ
"Handgun Combatives: Legacy Class / Day 2 of 5" by Tier 1 Citizen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPK2HwFdU8I
"Handgun Combatives: Legacy Class / Day 3 of 5" by Tier 1 Citizen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KKL_bOLoaE
"Handgun Combatives: Legacy Class / Day 4 of 5" by Tier 1 Citizen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWdu3_3ssj8
"Handgun Combatives: Legacy Class / Day 4 of 5 / Night Shoot" by Tier 1 Citizen 
[I have not been able to find 5 of 5.]
 
"Do it anyway" by Cecil Burch
https://www.iacombatives.com/2020/10/30/do-it-anyway/
Excerpt:  
     “I am too injured, too old, too crippled, worried about getting hurt and paying for medical
treatment, etc. . . . ”  
     And I understand that, I truly do.  The harsh truth though is that the person who we have
to most worry about – the violent criminal attacker, or his buddies, or the mob in the middle
of a riot, or the terrorist, and so on – does not give a flying bag of feces about your reasons
or rationalizations.  He is not going to start to assault you and then realize you cannot
physically fight back and then stops his assault.  As a matter of fact, your physical issues
make it more likely he is going to select you as a victim.  
     One of the most important yet overlooked parts of self-preservation is getting you
deselected as a victim before anything happens.  Projecting an aura of some physical
capability is a damn fine way to do that.  
     If you have to sit out a few minutes, or have to not do a particular technique or drill,
not one of us will say a negative word.  On the contrary, we will all do what we can to
make sure you are still getting the maximum out of the class and the material.  Instead of
being made fun of, you will get the same coaching that the star fighter in the class gets.  
That is an absolute, written in stone guarantee.  
 
" The Seven Keys To Situational Awareness" by Matthew Schafer
https://schaferselfdefense.blogspot.com/2008/10/five-keys-to-situational-awareness.html
Hat tip to Mark at https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
 
"Recognizing & Interpreting Pre-Attack Indicators
The easiest fight to win is the one that you walk away from, before anything starts up."
by Shelley Hill
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/recognizing-interpreting-pre-attack-indicators/
 
     "Work on safe, efficient, fast presentation of the handgun from its concealed mode of
carry.  Practice in the clothes you will wear daily."  . . . "Learn to keep your gun running.  
If it runs empty, reload it.  If it malfunctions, fix it."  
-- Tom Givens
From "Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
 
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get good at that task) -----
 
     "Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
 
"Is “Missing In Practice” the key to “Hitting In Combat?” " by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/is-missing-in-practice-the-key-to-hitting-in-combat/
Excerpt:  
     So, instead of doing the same drill 20 times in a row in an attempt to do the drill better,
it would be better to change up something about how you do the drill each time . . . foot
position, body angle, 1 hand vs. 2, glasses vs. no glasses [as in vision correction, not safety
glasses -- Jon Low], leans, lunges, twists, turns, movement, shooting around cover, etc.
so you only did the same drill the same way a couple of times in a single practice session.  
 
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
 
Why practice?  
    "To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents.  What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that  
which could have been their finest hour."  
-- Winston Churchill
 
"When the Killer’s Gun Jams- Can you Recognize an Opportunity for Action?"
by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/bad-guys-gun-jams-can-you-recognize-an-opportunity-for-action
 
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."  
-- Tom Givens
 
"Be careful what you practice.  
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."  
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Intervention *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************

----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it, which tactics to use, which
includes not getting involved) -----
 
     "According to testimony from eye witnesses, the student had handed over his wallet and cell
phone and was standing there with his hands in the air when he was shot in the face and killed.  
“Give them what they want and they'll go away” may not be the best strategy.  What if what
they want is your life?  If you wait to see if they're really going to kill you, and they do, it's too
late to stop them from killing you."
-- Tom Givens
From "Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
 
"Intuition vs Logic
Knowing when to "trust your gut" is important when seconds matter and lives are on the line."
by Shelley Hill
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/intuition-vs-logic/
 
     Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
 
"Make It A Team Effort
A spouse who can shoot is a force multiplier in a lethal force encounter."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/make-it-a-team-effort/
 
"SPECIAL REPORT:  
KEY PRINCIPALS USE TO WIN EVERY WAR, BATTLE AND FIGHT
by Tim Larking and Lieutenant Colonel Kryštof (Czech SpecOp)
https://m260.keap-link015.com/v2/click/a3f6fd47dbf34aa79f106adeab9955bc/eJyNkMFqwzAQRP9FZxNZimTLvoUQgnGaQ2jPRZVkIhJLwl4XQvC_Z92WnFrocXdn3jB7J-CCDtBYUpOeFznJyOCMT94F2MYA2nzdGF8zJvOMXH247Ic4JVLff_E-z8tSMlmpjMAtOVS8njbbtjnu3w_NsUVp0gNm_AMjFFO54k_Q7mXTHMg8_0l2vYfdJ8JHUsMwuaWS9VgL3oYr6s8AaawpXcJWPnTT6GMYYwcrE3uqU6IasPi5RwQtpeSccWqEUVashS0qwY2qtGYfVYFDWVrOug5z0emC_fla627f6fMDdqpwNA==
© TFT Group 2012-2020
www.targetfocustraining.com
Excerpts:  
     “All will charge forward to the assault and will penetrate as deeply as possible,
without paying concern to the flanks or the rear.”
— Israeli Brigadier-General Tal’s final briefing of his Officers before launching the Six-Day War
---
Bottom Line Up Front --
     Kryštof:  Very similar in, let’s say, a handgun situation where they say, “We’ll seek cover
and engage in a firefight.”  In this situation where there are two other guys, and you are busy
seeking cover, they get to shoot at you.  Whereas if you shoot both those guys there is no
one left to shoot at you.  So seeking cover becomes somewhat like a secondary, maybe even
a tertiary, action.  
---
     Tim Larkin:  It is a very simple, straightforward concept:  if you are the Cause — if you are
causing an effect, meaning whoever your target is, you are taking action that causes them
to react to whatever you action is — then you are keeping yourself in a Cause-State.
     That principle really will allow victory over any attacker.  That is what allows armies
victories over other armies; it’s what allows countries victories over other countries in
wartime.  When you look at or evaluate any one of these situations, even down to a simple
street fight, you can point to one time where one side was the cause, where one side
started being the cause, and continued being the cause until they achieved total victory.  
     Lieutenant Colonel Kryštof, Czech SpecOp:  An interesting fact is that when you see
that switch occur, it very rarely tends to switch back.  People who get the advantage of
being in the Cause-State and thrusting the other guy into the Effect-State, you very rarely
see them pause and then wait to see if they actually have the advantage.  They tend to
exploit the advantage they have gained, kind of like you have never heard of a prison
inmate “waiting to see what the other guy has got.”  He doesn’t stab him with an ice pick
and see if he is stuck.  He proceeds to continue his battle and that is why they usually end
up murdering people in prison.  
     Larkin:  . . . One overriding characteristic in a Cause-State is you are not concerned
with what your potential attacker (or enemy or whom ever you are facing) is doing.  
The other guy really doesn’t matter to you; you are only focused on what you want to do.  
You don’t take into consideration, “I may get hurt doing this, maybe it is better for me to
sit back and see what this person is going to do and then I will react to what they are doing.”  
You . . . decide, “This is what I want and . . . this is how I am going to do it.”
     . . . we see time and time again guys practicing, using blocking motions (preparing
basically not to be hit) rather then figuring out what they want to do to the other person.  
     That person, by virtue of being in the Cause-State, wins the fight.  He can be physically
inferior, his athletic ability can be inferior, his fighting ability — true fighting ability as far
as gauging it from looking at somebody — he can be a terrible fighter, but the person who
understands that, “Hey, here’s a target.  I want it, I took it, and I am going to keep striking
until I win.”  That alone is enough to gain victory over skill.  
     Kryštof:  Some people like to believe there is an opportunity for the concept of
counterattack.  But when you are really in the Effect-State your primary concern is
defending yourself — as opposed to the Cause-State where your only interest is injury to
the other person.  So that ability to step in and hurt somebody versus being hurt makes
you constantly recoil and constantly get hurt.  You only have a certain time slice, and you
are not going to be able to have an opportunity to get hurt and them turn around and hurt
the other guy.  So the guy that starts off with the Cause tends to stay the cause, and the
guy who is in the Effect tends to get stuck in the effect.  
     This quickly shows you do not need to be highly skilled to understand the effectiveness
of the Cause-State.  You just have to be willing to do it.  
     Larkin:  Why was he successful?  Because he was in the Cause-State . . . going right back
to what the Germans found out, when you aggressively attack and go in and seek targets
and constantly engage.  Those on the defensive or in the Effect-State have a hard time
reacting to that, have a hard time controlling that.  Why?  Because they are not doing the
same thing, they are trying to guess what the attacker or the person in the Cause-State is
doing and that is a very difficult thing to do.  
     Larking:  You quickly see that it is much better to be in the Cause-State causing an effect
against somebody that is trying to do something to you.  Instead of reacting to what he is
trying to do to you.  You decide what you want to do, you decide where you want to inflict
trauma and you continue to inflict trauma until you have left him in a non-functioning state.  
It is a very effective mode.  
     Kryštof: Any sort of situation where you are looking at it and thinking about the
method — it pretty much points out that you are not in the Cause-State.  So for the most
part we want you to be looking at creating results.  The Cause-State always generates results.  
It always generates an effect.  Without results, all the motion in the world isn’t good for
anything.  If you are a Fire-person, and you show up at the call, and you wave your hose
around, and water comes out the end, and you go up the ladder maybe, and ring the
bells — you are not putting out a fire.  You actually need to get that result.  You need to put
out the fire.  In any sort of situation where you are wondering, “Did I ring the bell enough?  
Is my hose rolled out enough?  Did I carry enough ladders?”  Those sorts of things get Fire
people killed.  It is very important that you recognize the difference between actually
creating change and just waving your arms around.  
     Kryštof: First, let’s go ahead and really state exactly what the Cause-State means.  
When I am in the Cause-State the other guy is in the Effect-State.  I can never control what
somebody else is doing unless I injure them; by injuring them I get an effect.  This is in a
violent situation; obviously I am not talking about smacking your boss.  In a violent situation,
the only way I can make someone do something, the only way I can dictate someone’s
behavior, is to take control of them — violently.  When I do that, when I actually take
control of the other person, I am in the Cause-State and they are in the Effect-State.  If I
knock the punch out of the way, I am basically protecting myself.  Obviously the answer
there is about Myself . . . I haven’t created a net change in Them.  I am not injuring them;
I can’t hurt them while protecting myself.  The two just don’t work together.  So what I
need to be focused on is taking the guy off balance, hurting him.  Doing all sorts of things
that blocking, quite simply, doesn’t do for me.  Instead, what I want to do is I want to step
in and hit the guy and if that is my concern I just go ahead and do that.  I don’t wait to see
if he is going to throw a punch that I can then block.  I just walk up and do whatever it is
I am going to do, whatever technique I chose to do.  
     LARKIN:  “Violence is rarely the answer.  But when it is the answer, it is the only answer.”  
When you understand the difference between Cause-State and Effect-State and why you
want to be in the Cause-State, you have the first true understanding of what combat
fighting . . . what true fighting . . . is all about.  
     If you are just constantly training for training purposes rather than learning how to fight,
then it is of no use in a violent threat!  
 
     Never assume a fighting stance.  Assuming such a stance is the GO signal for the other guy
to shoot you.  
     The first indication that you are a threat to the bad guy should be the BANG! if your bullet
is subsonic, or the impact if your bullet is supersonic.  
     So your hands are up, maybe shaking with fear.  There is an expression of fear on your face.  
Your legs may be shaking.  You may be pissing in your pants.  That's fine.  
     Shoot center of mass.  And continue until the threat is stopped.  Reload if necessary and
continue shooting.  Clear malfunctions if necessary and continue shooting.  If you run out
of ammo, charge in and attack.  Gouge eyes deep into the brain and hang onto the skull,
kick at knees, palm strike to nose, grab one of his fingers with both of your hands and twist
continue twisting even if something breaks continue twisting.  Keep attacking.  Whoever
attacks and continues without pause, wins.  If you give the enemy time to strike, you lose.  
Never give the enemy time to attack.  
 
     "Hollywood actors get to see the script beforehand, and nothing is fired at them but blanks.  
You don't have either luxury.  Criminals attack people in times and places where they think the
victims will not be prepared for them.  It's what they do.  The only way to be prepared to ward
off such predators is to always be prepared:  i.e., to be routinely armed and constantly ready
to respond to deadly threats against you and those who count on you for protection.  It's not
about convenience; it's about life and death."  
-- Massad Ayoob
 
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."  
-- John Holschen
 
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do in support of your strategy) -----
 
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
 
     Home invasion defense technique taught by Bob Allen at a recent church security class
at Royal Range in Nashville, TN.  You should have your cell phone, flashlight, and pistol
on your bedside table.  
     You are awakened in the middle of the night in your home by noise or your alarm system.  
You tell anyone in bed with you to move to a safe corner of the room (outside of your field
of fire, probably behind you).  You give them the phone and tell them to call 911, if they exist,
if not, you call 911.  If it is not a home invasion, you can always explain that to the responding
officers.  On the other hand, if you delay the call, you might not be able to make it later.  
[If you can't make the call, because the signal is being jammed, that tells you about the
sophistication of the attackers.  No, really.  When we were attacked in Riyadh, KSA on
May 11, 2002 all land lines were dead and all radio comms were jammed. -- Jon Low]  
     You place your flashlight on your pillow or on top of your blankets pointing at the door.  
You turn out the room lights.  You take a position in a deep corner (not behind the flashlight).  
When the intruder enters through the doorway, you positively identify the intruder before
shooting.  Because with high probability it is not an enemy that needs to be shot.  But, if you
need to shoot, you are on the enemy's flank and the enemy is lit up.  And he is shooting at
your flashlight.  WIN!  
 
By Todd Fossey
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3301110750172815/permalink/3397084177242138/
     Move to your firing side in a circular arc around your enemy.  Assume a Weaver arm position
and fire across your body (not out the front of your body) at the enemy.  Try it, you'll like it.  
 
"Non-Lethal Self-Defense: Less Than Lethal (But Still Pretty Darn Effective)"
by Mark Jacobs    
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2022/10/non-lethal-self-defense/
Excerpt:  
     “Whenever you think about any weapon or touch it, that’s a trigger telling you to leave
the situation you’re in.  If you put a pocket stick in your hand and continue to stay where
you are, you’re wrong. The minute you reach for it, you should be walking for the door.”  
-- Kelly McCann
 
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
 
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics) -----
 
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
 
"Guest Shot: Trigger Control: Easy to Say, Tough to Do"
by Dave Spaulding, www.handguncombatives.com
https://www.shootingwire.com/features/159f0fa0-044a-4408-9e18-cfe66190e8bc
Excerpts:  
     Mr. Spaulding is wrong when he says, "They [police officers] place themselves between
the criminals and the citizens they are sworn to protect."  Law enforcement officers don't
swear to protect anyone.  They swear to enforce the laws of their jurisdiction.  There are many
U.S. Supreme Court rulings stating that the police officer has no duty to protect individuals
and cannot be sued for failing to protect individuals.  Because that is not their job.  That is
not in their job description.  Sorry, that's just reality.  
     When Mr. Spaulding says, "short-trigger actions", he is referring to single action as opposed
to double action.  Manufacturers have their own names for single action, Glock calls their's
"safe action", the gun magazines refer to "striker actions"; they are all single action.  
[I agree.  Single action if much better than double action.]  
     "I believe experienced shooters shoot to 7 o'clock (right hand) or 5 o'clock (left hand)
because their hand wants to function sympathetically as a single unit."  
[I disagree.  The low-left scatter for right-handed shooters and low-right scatter for left-handed
shooters is due to pushing against the anticipated recoil of the pistol.  It is an autonomic
nervous system response to recoil and report.  The solution is the surprise trigger break.  
By not allowing the brain to know when the pistol will fire, all autonomic nervous system
responses occurs after the bullet has exited the muzzle.  Thereby defeating all autonomic
nervous system responses:  pushing, jerking, flinching, freezing, blinking, etc.]  
     I agree, you should shoot to reset.  This eliminates wasted motion.  So is more efficient.  
     "The human body is easy to kill, but it's difficult to stop quickly, and handguns are
terrible at this.  Thus, precise shot placement is required making trigger control even more
important."  
     Notice how Mr. Spaulding uses the word "regulate".  I'm sure this is intentional, as this
is how the word is used in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  
     Mr. Spaulding is retiring and will be sorely missed.  
 
"Why Are You Not Finding Your Dot?" by Brian Hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjIn-10zckg
     I agree.  Moving your head to get your eye behind your sights is a bad habit.  You should
move the pistol up to your line of sight.  Keep your head up and straight.  Your inner ear
is attached to your skull.  If you tilt your head, your inner ear thinks your body is tilted and
sends signals to all of your muscles to right your body.  Thus causing and involuntary motion.  
     What Brian says is actually quite deep.  He is a philosopher.  Take time to understand
his words.  
 
"Box Breathing: A Tactical Breathing Technique To Stop Stress" by Ben Brown
https://thepreppingguide.com/box-breathing/
    Breath in through your nose filling up your belly for 4 seconds. 
    Hold for 4 seconds. 
    Exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds. 
    Hold for 4 seconds. 
    Repeat 4 times. 
 
"Safely Passing the Gun" by Tatiana Whitlock
https://www.agirlandagun.org/safely-passing-the-gun/
 
"Gun Disarms That Can Get You Killed" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGY8qIKkzwc
     Kill the bad guy.  Don't worry about the tool.  Training to go after the tool is wrong.  
What makes the human dangerous is an active brain.  Kill the enemy NOW!  
Take out the enemy brain.  
 
"Handheld Flashlight Techniques for Armed Citizens" by Salvatore    
https://www.usacarry.com/handheld-flashlight-techniques-armed-citizens/
---
     I attended a low light match at the Glock Store in Nashville, TN (as opposed to the one in
California) in which the tactical scenario had us shooting around the right edge of a vertical
barrier and then around the left edge of a vertical barrier in the dark in quick succession.  
So the exercise was to find a way to go from a right-handed Harries position to a left-handed
Harries position safely and quickly.  
     Trapping the hand held flash in the armpit doesn't work.  Can you see why?  
How do you get the flashlight into your right hand when it is in your right armpit and your
pistol is in your left hand?  I put my flashlight inside my belt by my navel.  
     Weapon mounted lights were not allowed because they violate Safety Rule II.  Do you
understand why?  The scenario entailed a lot of searching.  Searching with a weapon mounted
light violates Safety Rule II.  
     Generally speaking, you want to stay back away from corners and barriers, as there may
be someone around the corner who will grab your pistol.  The problem in the dark is that the
barrier reflects light, illuminating you, killing your night vision, and other stuff like that.  So
the guys would get up close to the barrier to get their flashlight in a position so no light 
reflected back off the barrier.  Ya, it's a compromise.  
     There was a glass window that allowed you to search the inside of the room from outside
the room.  The trick was to place your flashlight in contact with the window.  Even a few
millimeters off the glass would create glare reflecting back in your eyes.  
     Some things are obvious to some people.  Some things are not obvious and must be learned
through training and practice.  Because someone else has learned them in combat and is willing
to teach them to you to save you the experience of learning in combat.  
 
"Malfunction Clearance in the Real World" by Salvatore
https://www.usacarry.com/malfunction-clearance/
     In the real world a lot of things can cause a malfunction.  
 
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Postvention *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************
 
----- Aftermath-----
You have to be alive to have these problems:  criminal and civil liability.  
 
     I will immediately ask for my attorney and remain silent.  
---
     I will sleep like a baby.  If I allow the actions of the enemy to disturb my sleep, the enemy
has effectively won from beyond the grave (because I definitely killed him).  So I will sleep
like a baby.  
     My use of lethal force was justified as self-defense or defense of others, and morally
righteous.  I am the hero.  It doesn't matter that the police, prosecutor, and public are too
stupid to understand.  I know.  God knows.  And that's all that matters.  
     I will not be upset or angry if my wife leaves me and asks for a divorce.  I understand that
the criminal is responsible for her actions, just as Adam is responsible for sin entering the
garden of Eden.  I will not blame my wife, as Adam blamed Eve.  [Adam was senior.  Eve was
subordinate.  Mature adults take responsibility for their actions.  Leaders take responsibility
for the actions of their subordinates.]
     I will never accept a plea deal.  Because that is confessing to a crime that I did not
commit, which is lying, which is a sin.  In the end, we all answer to God.  I would not have
God ask me why I lied.  [Remaining silent is not lying.  Remaining silent is not a sin.  
Mr. Spock said so in Star Trek (the original one).]    
     I will not sue the family of the criminal (even if an attorney offered to take the case on
contingency), because children are not responsible for the crimes of the parent.  [Suing the
criminal is a possibility, but my father told me to avoid law suits, as they ruin your health.  
In the case of divorce, pay her off and cut all ties as soon as possible.]  
     I will eat my pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, which is a single serving, followed by a nap.  
And I will sleep like a baby.  
---
     I will only make statements with my attorney present with his consent and only after two
complete sleep cycles.  I may not make a verbal statement.  My attorney might think it better
to submit a written statement.  In any case, I will remain silent, knowing that by saying
anything I have waived my right to remain silent.  
 
     In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the direct address
https://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/never-talk-to-police.html
 
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
 
     In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".  
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
Read this before you buy insurance.  You need to make an informed decision.  
     "You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob  
 
"Do you need Concealed Carry Insurance?  
Massad Ayoob has the answer - Critical Mas Ep 42"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl-iDAZddEM
 
     "It's not the odds, it's the stakes." -- John Hearne
That's why you carry a gun.  That's why you carry self-defense insurance.  
So you don't end up dead or destitute.  
 
“Your understanding and consent are not required
for someone to take your life, kill your loved ones,
and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
 
----- Medical -----
 
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
 
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Education *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************
 
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
 
     Lots of information at
https://www.stngrusa.com/blog/
STNGR (pronounced Stinger) is a family run business born and based out of Allen, Texas.  
Father and son, Ernest and Philip Pages, started STNGR from humble beginnings in 2016
with one mission - to strengthen our hard fought American freedoms and traditions to
ensure they are passed to the next generation.  
 
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
 
*****     *****     ***** Legal *****     *****     *****
 
     "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
 
"LIVE! Cummings Self-Defense Trial: FINAL Catch-Up" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFdLnT_O4E8
     Dean Cummings kills Guillermo Arriola.  Cummings claims self defense.  The case
against Cummings is starting to fall apart as the judge starts dismissing charges.  
This is what happens in liberal anti-gun anti-self-defense jurisdictions.  The defenders
get charged with crimes and are forced to defend themselves again in court.  We are
supposed to have grand juries and probable cause hearings to dismiss these frivolous
cases, but not in New Mexico.  
     [The jury acquits Cummings.  But Cummings had spent 2 years in jail awaiting that
verdict.]  
 
     "If you carry a gun, so you're hard to kill, know the law, so you're hard to convict."  
     Free infographic on the 5 elements of self-defense.  
https://LawOfSefDefense.com/elements/
     "Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
https://lawofselfdefense.com/freebook/
The book is free of charge.  Just pay shipping, so you don't have to drive to Colorado
to pick it up.  
     "Educate yourself.  So, you don't spend the rest of your life in a cage."  
 
     I work as armed security at the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, TN.  
Our facility is a polling place on election day.  We all carry in and around the polling place.  
Not carrying is an act of criminal stupidity.  Open carry is an act of intimidation and thus
criminal stupidity.  Don't be stupid.  Carry concealed.  
 
"The Ayoob File
Readers Know Massad Ayoob As A Writer, But He’s Also A Leader"
by Dave Workman
https://gunsmagazine.com/discover/the-ayoob-file/
Excerpt:  
     ". . . all of us are here today about CIVIL rights; the civil rights of gun owners."  
     “And it is absolutely about human rights,” Ayoob continued.  “Lord William Blackstone,
the great commentator on the common law, said that self-defense was the highest of all
human rights.”  
     "If someone questions you about why you own and even carry a gun, the best
explanation is to compare it to a fire extinguisher.  It’s is an emergency lifesaving
rescue tool."  
 
"Back to Basics: Disparity of Force
An Interview with Massad Ayoob"
by Gila Hayes
https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/disparity-of-force
Excerpt:  
     "Sadly, so much deadly force law does not lend itself to CliffsNotes® because
complicated issues do not come with simple answers."
 
“Bruen” by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/bruen/
More on “Bruen” by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/more-on-bruen/
 
“The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of oneself.”
-- Jane Addams
 
"Supreme Court Issues New Decision Striking Down Another 2A Violation!!!"
by Armed Scholar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-dBiBacXh4
     Misdemeanor conviction blocking ability to keep and bear arms.  SCOTUS -
Grant, Vacate, and Remand.  Back to 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.  
 
"ATF Loses Power To Regulate & Restrict Frames/Receivers!!! ATF Appeals!"
by Armed Scholar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYiOuIsIRYA
     Federal Judge in North Texas grants preliminary injunction against ATF.  
ATF appeals to 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  
 
"Federal 2A Ban While Under Restraining Order Ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL!"
by Guns & Gadgets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD5_NwyA0VY
Court ruling -
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. LITSSON ANTONIO PEREZ-GALLAN.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txwd.1177458/gov.uscourts.txwd.1177458.55.0.pdf
 
"LIVE! Adam Baldwin Talks Movie Set Gun Handling!" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY2GIJw0XtM
     I love Adam Baldwin from
"Firefly"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
and
"Serenity"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/
     It's an open and shut case of manslaughter.  The only reason criminal charges have not been
filed against Alec Baldwin is that the prosecutor and Alec Baldwin are of the same political
tribe.  
---
     I had dinner with the Prop Master of the movie "Savage Land".  It is still in production.  
It is a story about Davy Crockett and his friends and associates in that era.  
She told me that the Armorer works for the Prop Master.  They brought in a gentleman from 
Kentucky who is an expert in firearms from that period to be the Armorer.
She told me that she paints the wooden firearms after each shoot to make them look 
realistic.  (Painting wood to look like something else is a fine art.  I visited the Governors 
mansion today in Mississippi.  I saw a fireplace mantel that was made of marble.  But 
it wasn't marble.  It was wood, painted to look like marble.)  She told me that they don't 
have any real functional guns on the set.  Most are wood replicas.  Some shoot sparks out 
of the muzzle.  None of them will chamber rounds.  Before the scene starts, everyone 
on the set is invited to inspect the "guns".  And everyone does, because they care. 
     She told me that in this day and age, there is no reason to have real guns on the set.  
     As Penn Jillette says, no trick should be more dangerous that sitting in your living room. 
 
    “Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for a dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Instruction *****     *****     *****

Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:  
"We are not God's gift to our students.  
Our students are God's gift to us."  
 
----- Instructors -----
 
“Let no man’s ghost say my training has failed him . . . ”  
-- Chris Groez
 
"Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
 
     Please read the following.  This is very important.  Yes, self-defense / combat is this
complicated (for the good guy, not so much for the bad guy).  
"Why There’s No Off Ramp:
Police Firearms Training Prevents De-escalation"
by Dustin P. Solomon
https://www.buildingshooters.com/police-firearms-training-prevents-de-escalation/
Excerpts:  
     "Defining skill sequence performance is used during training for range control,
ammunition management, and to enable empirical performance measurement.  
These are all critical components of safe and effective firearms training.  Unfortunately,
the operational impacts may be neither safe, nor effective."  
     "The result of these two firearms training features (modeled in detail later in this article)
is that the neurological circuits that are constructed during skills training exclude
connectivity to the centers of the brain that can alter skill performance.  De-escalation that
both can and should happen in the real world does not. This is not due to malice or ignorance.  
It occurs because of performance limitations that are created by our methods of training."  
     "At a systemic level this is not because police officers are screwed up or intentionally
using deadly force when they should not. It is instead an inevitable and unavoidable
byproduct of how we train people with firearms."  
     "On the one hand, this is what we want–automaticity of performance that is not greatly
impacted by stress or other events.  On the other hand, the desire for automatic performance
assumes that we have decided to do the right thing.  Unfortunately this is not always true."  
     "What does this mean for us as trainers?  It means that the process of becoming good
at shooting inhibits the ability to de-escalate."  
     [John Murphy tells me that he is having lunch with Dustin Solomon next week.  I expect
to hear more after that meeting. -- Jon Low]
 
     Be careful what you teach.  
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
 
----- Andragogy -----
 
     An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.  
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
 
"Experimental indications of non-classical brain functions"
by Christian Matthias Kerskens and David López Pérez
Published 7 October 2022 • © 2022
Journal of Physics Communications, Volume 6, Number 10
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2399-6528/ac94be
Hat tip to Sabine Hossenfelder.  Sabine's comments are at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrFa4tXTQQk
     While the paper is hard to read, the point is that the human, in particular the human brain,
is God's master piece of creation.  We should expect it to operate in non-classical ways.  We
should expect it to learn in non-classical ways.  So it is reasonable to search for non-classical
teaching and learning paradigms.  
     [Notice that the MIT group made their data publicly available, an indication of legitimate
research.  Remember the group at IBM Watson labs refused to share their data on their
quantum road map with me, and indication of bogus "research".]  
 
     "The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.  
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."  
-- Robert John Meehan
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Gear *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************
 
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
 
     "Acquire a reliable, functional handgun you can shoot well, a good carry system (belt,
holster and ammunition carrier), and wear it on a routine, daily basis.  You do not get to
pick which day you will need your gun.  Someone else makes that decision for you, and
you will typically be informed at the very last minute!"  
-- Tom Givens
"Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
"How to Avoid Buying Holsters that WON’T WORK | Stop Wasting your Money"
by Tessah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sERkwNeqflk
 
"Milwaukee Police Department, union, city craft plan to replace 'defective' officer guns"
by Derrick Rose
https://www.wisn.com/article/milwaukee-police-department-to-get-new-handguns/41824067#
Excerpt:  
     "An internal investigation by the Milwaukee Police Department determined the current
P320 firearms were missing a spring that could lead to accidental discharges,
but the manufacturer insisted they were safe."  
---
     There are just too many of these cases for this to be a hoax or conspiracy.  
---
     The OfficerStore.com has
$449.99
Law Enforcement Trade-In Sig Sauer P320C 9MM
Professional Optics Ready
3.6" barrel (the C in P320C stands for compact)
(3) 15rd magazines, White box, Grade 2
in stock.  
https://www.officerstore.com/Sig-Sauer-P320C-9MM-Professional-3.6-3-15rd-magazines-White-box-Grade-2
     You will find lots of Law Enforcement trade-ins of Sig P320s on other web sites, too.  
This is not a good sign.  It means lots of police departments are trading in their Sig P320s
for other pistols.  
 
"A Taste Of Carry Optics
What you need to know about handgun red dots for defensive use"
by Massad Ayoob
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/a-taste-of-carry-optics/
     Worth reading for an explanation of the acronyms.  
Excerpts:  
     "The press-out draw technique came from my friend Todd Louis Green . . ."  
Bring the pistol up first, then push it out to the target, to allow you to see the sights sooner.  
[Also allows you to get over steering wheels and tables. -- Jon Low]
     "The answer is a defogger, and the near unanimous choice among carry optics users
seems to be the Cat Crap brand, despite its unappetizing name."  [I'm going to have to try
this on my ski goggles. -- Jon Low]  
     "Thus, my final advice on carry optics:  Don’t get into them unless you’re willing to
commit time, ammo, and training to the concept."  
 
"NEW FLASHLIGHT MOD" by Steve Cooper of Paladin Training, Inc.  
https://paladintraining.com/7-nov-2022/?7_NOV_2022
     I love cheap simple effective hacks.  
 
"Five Great Action Pistols For Less Than $700"
by Chris Christian
https://www.ssusa.org/content/five-great-action-pistols-for-less-than-700/
 
Silencer Central is offering
FREE shipping to your front door to all 42 silencer-legal states
https://www.silencercentral.com/services/direct-shipping/
FREE NFA Gun Trust
https://www.silencercentral.com/services/nfa-gun-trust/
 
     My first ex-wife and I had a Federal Firearms License (FFL).  I would sell pistols.  I never
do that anymore.  I realized that the buyer would not get a proper holster, belt, magazine
pouch, (and perhaps clothing such as suspenders, concealment garment, etc.).  The result
would be suboptimal, if not a total disaster.  
     For the past few years, I have sold sets of gear that work correctly when used together.  
There are infinite combinations.  The weapon system must be tested together (not just
individual components), before being given to the student / client / customer.  
     Yes, that is your responsibility, because you know.  The student / customer doesn't know.  
The student / customer doesn't know that he doesn't know.  The student / customer doesn't
know what he doesn't know.  Much of what the customer / student knows is false.  
But you know, so take responsibility.  If you're not going to sell complete systems, at least
give the person a list of equipment and recommendations (make and model, not just type).  
 
"Why [Greg Ellifritz] Carr[ies] a .22?" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/why-carry-a-22
 
"The 16340 battery, a replacement for the CR123a battery for your tactical flashlight"
by Riley Bowman
https://www.concealedcarry.com/lp-16340-high-output-usb-batteries-for-tactical-flashlights/
(I know Riley and I trust him.) 
     It's rechargeable and puts out 3.7 volts, as opposed to 3.0 volts that the CR123a outputs.  
At $10 per battery, it might be worth it.  
     On the other hand, you can buy a Streamlight rechargeable battery that replaces two
CR123a batteries for about $20, and then you only need to recharge one battery.  
 
"How to Choose a Holster + Best Holster Brands" by Philip Pages
https://www.stngrusa.com/how-to-choose-a-holster
     Lots of information at
https://www.stngrusa.com/blog/
STNGR (pronounced Stinger) is a family run business born and based out of Allen, Texas.  
Father and son, Ernest and Philip Pages, started STNGR from humble beginnings in 2016
with one mission - to strengthen our hard fought American freedoms and traditions to
ensure they are passed to the next generation.  
 
"Safariland Duty Holsters for Field and Concealment" by Mason Dixon Tactical
https://masondixonsurvivalistassociation.wordpress.com/2022/11/09/safariland-duty-holsters-for-field-and-concealment/
Hat tip to Mark at https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
     That's interesting that the author does not mention the Safariland GLS holsters.
The ones he mentions use the thumb to defeat the retention.  The GLS holsters use
pressure from the middle finger when a proper grip is established on the pistol.  
The middle finger up tight against the bottom of the trigger guard will release the
pistol.  I like the GLS holster and have used them at work.
https://safariland.com/collections/gls-holsters
 
" Lockheed Martin delivers record 300-kW laser weapon to US military" by David Szondy
https://newatlas.com/military/lockheed-martin-delivers-record-300-kw-laser-weapon-to-us-military/
     In case you don't understand why laser weapons are able to destroy things that can tolerate
absorbing power way above the rating of the weapon system, for instance 300 kilowatts.  
It is because the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says that the uncertainty in the momentum
times the uncertainty in the position of anything is greater than ℏ, Plank's constant divided by
2π.  So if you make the laser pulse very short (very small uncertainty in position), the
uncertainty in momentum (energy) is very large.  So sometimes the energy is very large.  
No, this does not violate conservation of energy.  Conservation of energy is a macroscopic
statistical law.  On a large enough scale, energy is conserved.  But on a small scale, not so
much.  
 
"A Beginner’s Guide To Shooting Glasses" by Aaron Spuler    
https://www.weapon-blog.com/2022/09/a-beginners-guide-to-shooting-glasses/
Hat tip to Mark at https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
Excerpts:  
     "Military. . . look for the MIL-PRF 32432 Ballistic Fragmentation Standard."
     "Civilian . . . look for ANSI Z87.1 or Z87+ rating . . . "
 
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****   Religion, Politics, History, War Stories, et al   *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************
 
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
 
Rest in Peace Todd Louis Green.
I didn't know he had died.  Massad Ayoob mentions it in his article, "A Taste Of Carry Optics".  
 
“Let them eat cake!”by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/let-them-eat-cake/
     Never be taken by surprise.  That's the surest way to end your genetic line.  
     New York, Illinois, soon California.  
 
     I got a call from Public Policy Polling.  They asked me to answer a few questions
concerning the upcoming election.  I didn't recognize any of the names.  I asked them
what district they were talking about.  It was in New York City.  They confirmed my
name and phone number.  I told them I am not registered in New York, New York and
had never voted in New York state.  They told me that their copy of the voter records
indicated that I had voted in every election in the past 3 years, so I was a likely voter.  
I told them, no I have never voted in New York.  They told me that they would report
the discrepancy.  
     Makes me wonder how many places in the U.S. have a record of me voting there.  
 
     “Who fancy themselves ‘The (permanent) Ruling Class’ don’t care about public safety.  
 Having made it difficult for states and localities to police locally (de-funding police),
having left citizens no choice but to protect ourselves as best we can, they now intend to
forcibly take our guns away from us (have plainly said as much, and will loudly
re-proclaim the moment they're re-elected).  
In fact, they piously blame us tax-paying, law-abiding citizens for violent crime!  
This is so wrong, it cannot be an ‘honest mistake.’ ”
-- Malcolm Wallop
 
“Bill of Privileges?” by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/bill-of-privileges/
 
     If you don't want to donate to the NRA because they spend more on legal fees than
other activities (Instructors, Range Development, Campaign Contributions,
Eddie Eagle Program, etc.), may I suggest you donate to John Lott's organization,
Crime Prevention Research Center
https://crimepreventionresearchcenter.nationbuilder.com/donate
 
"Further Thoughts on NRA’s 2022 Finances" by NRA in Danger, Blog at WordPress.com
https://nraindanger.wordpress.com/2022/11/03/further-thoughts-on-nras-2022-finances/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger, http://spw-duf.info
Excerpt (paraphrased):  
     NRA's projected legal expenses for 2022 are $60.5 million, or over 1/3 of NRA’s total
revenues.  Looking at past IRS Form 990s, in 2018 NRA had total revenue of $352 million,
four years later that’s fallen by 41%.  In 2019, NRA ran a deficit of $12 million, in 2018,
a deficit of $2.7 million, in 2017 a deficit of $17 million, and in 2016 one of $45 million.  
Even in the good years, NRA was spending more than it brought in.  The one exception is
2020, when revenues fell only $4 million, and NRA showed a surplus due to salary costs
being cut by 1/3 ($18 million) via layoffs, unsalaried furloughs, salary cuts, and stopping
contributions to employees’ retirement funds.  If you were looking at a company, and noted
that – Its revenues had fallen by 41% over four years, it’d had to borrow to keep afloat
six years out of the last seven, it’d laid off many employees and stopped its pension
contributions for the rest, it was kept alive only by massive borrowing (1/6 of its budget),
it’s tied up in legal battles to where its legal budget is one-third of its revenues, and
everything was pointing down for coming years, wouldn’t you conclude the company
was dying, and the only question was when would it file for real (dissolution) bankruptcy
and fade away?  
 
     The richest man in the world is an African-American immigrant to the United States.  
Elon Musk.  He recommends that you vote for the Grand Old Party (GOP, Republicans).  
 

 

 
 
 
"Legal Firearm Sales at State Level and
Rates of Violent Crime, Property Crime, and Homicides"
by Mark E.Hamill MD, Matthew C.Hernandez MD, Kent R.Bailey PhD, Caleb L.Cutherell MD,
Martin D.Zielinski MD, Donald H.Jenkins MD, Douglas F.Naylor MD, Miguel A.Matos DO,
Bryan R.Collier DO, Henry J.Schiller MD
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022480422005078
Excerpt:  
     Robust analysis does not identify an association between increased lawful firearm sales
and rates of crime or homicide.  
 
“Groupthink in Science: Book Trailer "Lost in Math" ” by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ7jwevZbb4
     And you thought this sort of stupidity only happened in politics.  No, no, it happens in
the hard sciences too.  
 
"Your character is what you do when no one is looking."
-- Thomas Jefferson
 
*************************************************************************
     *****     *****     *****  Cryptology *****     *****     *****
 
     "Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe,
and preserve order in the world as well as property.  
Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of their use."
-- Thomas Paine
[Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law.  
ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations]
 
"The Most Important Algorithm Of All Time" by Veritasium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmgFG7PUHfo
     Fourier Transform (FT) -> Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) -> Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
The FT is a mapping of continuous complex functions in the realm of complex analysis.  
The DFT is in the realm of discrete mathematics.  The FFT is in the realm of computer science.  
If you want to see the code, look in "Numerical Recipes in C".  
"Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing",
Second Edition 2nd Edition by William H. Press, Brian P. Flannery, Saul A. Teukolsky, and
William T. Vetterling.
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0521431085
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521431088
There is an older version, "Numerical Recipes in Fortran", but I don't think there are many
Fortran compilers in the wild these days.  (My first computer science course in college used
Fortran.  Fond memories.)  On the other hand, since the Linux kernel and the GNU utilities
are all written in C, there will be C compilers into the foreseeable future.  
     The first half of my graduate work at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics was in theoretical
seismology.  Ostensibly for petroleum exploration, but the U.S. Navy paid for everything.  
Because our work could be used in the analysis of sonar signals.  
     The data compression aspect is important.  But remember, it is lossy compression.  
Generally, in cryptology we need lossless compression to recover the message.  But in
steganography we want to be able to tolerate lossy compression.  Because who knows how
the environment will treat our embedded message.  
 
"Researchers thought this was a bug (Borwein integrals)" by 3Blue1Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=851U557j6HE
---
     When I was taught this stuff, the explanation was that the FT takes us from the
time domain (amplitude and phase vs. seconds) to the frequency domain (amplitude
and phase vs. cycles per second), and the inverse FT takes us from the frequency
domain to the time domain.  
     Or, you can think of the FT taking us from the distance domain (amplitude and
phase vs. meters) to the inverse wavelength domain (amplitude and phase vs. cycles
per meter).  
---
     The convolution theorem says that
[the multiplication of two time series a(t) and u(t) in the time domain resulting in e(t)]
is equivalent to
[transforming the two time series a(t) and u(t) into the frequency domain resulting in
â(f) and û(f),
convolving the two frequency series â(f) and û(f) into ê(f),
and then transforming ê(f) back into the time domain resulting in e(t).]  
Convolution uses addition operations which are much cheaper than multiplication
operations.  So by using this method you can end up way ahead.  
 
     Do you see how you can use the FFT and the cliff of Borwein integrals to create
cryptosystems?  There is a word for it, but I think it's still classified.  Such silliness.  Have fun.  
Pooh Bear loves honey.  
 
"But what is the Fourier Transform? A visual introduction." by 3Blue1Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spUNpyF58BY
     The narrator glosses over aliasing.  So you always must be careful about the Nyquist
frequency.  You have to sample at twice the highest frequency signal in the message.  How
can you know a priori what the highest component frequency is in the message?  You can't.  
May I recommend "Understanding Digital Signal Processing" by Richard G. Lyons?  
ISBN 0-201-63467-8
 
     Quantum mechanical spin is different from mechanical spin.  
     In three dimensions (x, y, z) the angular displacement vector (or any of its time derivatives:  
angular velocity, angular acceleration, etc.) can point in any direction in 3-space.  So there are
uncountably infinite possible directions for the spin vector.  
     When measured (and only when measured), quantum mechanical spin only has two
possible values:  Up or Down.  Entangled particles, whose total spin must add to zero to
conserve spin, only add to zero if both particles are measured in the same way.  
 
"What if the Effect Comes Before the Cause?" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iixrNh7Xp5M
     In systems with finite degrees of freedom, entropy can decrease with input of heat energy,
resulting in negative Kelvin temperatures.  (Ya, you probably need to take a graduate level
thermodynamics class for a deep understanding.)  So using increase of entropy to determine
direction of time is wrong.  Going forward or backward in time will see an increase in
entropy.  Time reversal at the macroscopic scale is not like running a movie backwards.  You're
not going to see spontaneous compression.  Entropy always increases, no matter which
direction you go in time.  The laws of thermodynamics can be derived from first principles.  
They are not just probably true because of observation.  In particular the 2nd Law, entropy
always increases (because God says so).  
     Student Richard Phillips Feynman (1918-1988) asked Prof. John Archibald Wheeler
(1911-2008) why all electrons have the same mass.  Wheeler answered that it is because
there is only one electron.  We see multiple electrons because the single electron is moving
forward and backward in time, and in and out of our 3 dimensional space as the electron is
moving through higher dimensional spaces.  So it appears to us to be in multiple locations
at the same time.  The electron moving backward in time would appear to us as a positron,
the electron anti-particle.  Thus conserving CPT, charge parity and time.  To the best of my
knowledge, conservation of these three quantities (individually or as a whole) cannot be
derived from first principles.  When Madam Wu disproved conservation of parity, the
theoretical physicists came up with conservation of CPT.  But it's just a work around.  
 
"The Closest We Have to a Theory of Everything" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0da8TEeaeE
     An explanation of the Principle of Least Action.  Do you see how you can use this principle
to build your cryptosystem?  Alice can send many messages.  Bob can use the Principle
of Least Action to find the needle in the hay hash.  Because there is only one message that
will satisfy the calculus of variations.  The math is a little involved, but you'll get it.  Why can't
Eve use the calculus of variations?  Eve doesn't know the definition of our action.  
Lots of parts to the crypto key. 
 
"I did the double slit experiment at home" by Mithuna Yoganathan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_uBaBuarEM
 
"A simple condition for when the matrix inverse exists | Linear algebra makes sense"
by Mithuna Yoganathan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESKcF8XFzLM
     Cryptology uses the "exclusive or", XOR, ^ in C, operation a lot because it conserves
information.  
     How do you swap the bit sequences in X and Y?  
     Solution:  
X = X ^ Y; 
Y = X ^ Y; 
X = X ^ Y;  // 6 operations, 2 variables
     Notice that no extra temporary storage variable Z is used.  Compare to 
Z = X; 
X = Y;
Y = Z;  // 3 operations, 3 variables
     Mithuna explains how square matrices (2nd rank tensors), whose determinant is not zero,
conserve information and so may be used as an information conserving operations in our
cryptosystems.  [Scale up to Tera flops (floating point operations) and Tera bytes of storage.  
You see how useful this is?] 
 
"What's wrong with physics?" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aUk6oi_AmM
     Wow!  I had no idea how messed up theoretical physics was.  
 
"The physics anomaly no one talks about: What's up with those neutrinos?"
by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p118YbxFtGg
     I remember studying neutrinos in high school.  We were debating whether or not neutrinos
were massless.  My how things have become more complicated over the years.  Which makes
me believe the Standard Model is wrong.  
 
"Why are so many pilots wrong about Bernoulli’s Principle?" by Magnar Nordal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyRx25MSWng
     Not just pilots; physics professors, engineering professors, doctors, . . .
When doctors working on blood flow make this mistake, they kill patients.  I would give my
students documented examples of this when I taught physics to impress upon them how
important Bernoulli’s Principle is.
     And it's not just Bernoulli's Principle.  Just about every physics textbook I've seen has a
diagram of the electric field and magnetic field propagating along a straight line with the two
fields in phase.  In truth, they are 90° (90 degrees) or π/2 radians out of phase.  I have written
to the publishers and authors, but they won't correct their diagrams.  
     I would have students argue with me, when I explained that the √4 (square root of 4) is
±2 (plus or minus 2).  They would say things like, "Another professor told me that the
square root of 4 is 2."  When I explained that -2 squared equals 4, therefore the √4 is -2,
students would just deny the explanation.  It was mind boggling.  That is to say, it boggled
my mind, not their minds.  So of course, I had no luck explaining that the ∛8 (third root of 8)
is 2 or 2e^(i2π/3) or 2e^(-i2π/3).  Nor that the ∜16 (fourth root of 16) is 2 or 2i or -2 or -2i.  
     Stupidity (or a refusal to understand, which might be the same thing) runs rampant in
society.  No, really, it does.  It is very difficult to educate some humans.  
 
"Chaos: The real problem with quantum mechanics" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJzKLTavk-w
     Take your time and follow her argument.  The problem she describes is real and deep.  
 
"Should we abandon the multiverse theory?
Sabine Hossenfelder, Roger Penrose, Michio Kaku"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W39kfrxOSHg
     Michio Kaku's exposition is disappointing.  To put it politely. 
     Roger Penrose is correct and deep.  Notice he never says "um", "ah", etc.  Because that is
how he thinks.  Precision of language is precision of thought. 
     Sabine Hossenfelder says little, a very high information density.  She is young and 
German is her first language, so does not speak English as eloquently. 
     If you can't test the predictions of the theory, the theory is not in the realm of science.  
 
"Tom Clancy Speaks at the National Security Agency"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS54M5Mqa9M
     A talk given in October 1986 by Tom Clancy.
Excerpts:  
     "The crypto guys won the [Second World] War for us.  If they didn't, they shortened
it by four years."  
 
     "Premature optimization is the root of all evil."  
-- Donald Knuth
 
*************************************************************************
     *****     *****     *****  Intelligence   *****     *****     *****
 
“You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol
than you are a musician because you own a guitar.”
from "Principles of Personal Defense" by Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, (1920 – 2006 A.D.)
 
"There is a crack in everything.  
That's how the light gets in."  
-- Leonard Cohen
 
     Do you like brain teasers?  Magic tricks?  I do.  Let me tell you a story, pure fiction, any
relation to reality is coincidental and unintentional.  Even references to historical events are
just for cultural background / context.  
---
     A trusted reliable informant contacted law enforcement in the U.S. to inform them that a
shipment of cocaine had been loaded onto a tractor trailer in Mexico and was heading toward
Chicago.  [Wealthy yuppies who own seats on the exchanges (even if they rent the seats 
out to others) don't do meth.  They do uncut pharmaceutical cocaine.] 
The truck was stopped in Laredo, TX.  When searched, the 16 high end refrigerator
freezers were found to be packed with bricks of a white powder vacuum packed in clear plastic,
also wrapped with duct tape, as the plastic wasn't that strong.  
     There were three men in the truck.  X was a hardcore criminal with a history of working
for a drug cartel.  Y was the brother of X and had no record, just along for the ride to make
some easy money.  Z was the cousin of X, no record, just along for the ride to see America
and help with the driving.  X asks for his attorney and tells Y and Z to do the same.  X
assures his relatives that the big boss will get them out.  
     Y and Z are scared out of their wits and immediately cut plea deals which entails testify
against X.  They give sworn statements, and at a later time are deposed.  This all happened
pretty fast, because the law enforcement officers (LEOs) had prior warning, so everything
was prepared.  
     The $700 an hour criminal defense attorney (from Austin, TX) goes to the prosecutor to
ask him to drop all charges.  The prosecutor says no.  The defense counsel says he is doing
the prosecutor a big favor because they are friends (high school classmates).  The prosecutor
says, get out of my office asshole.  
     The lab techs report that the white powder is sugar.  They had randomly sampled the bricks.  
So the prosecutor tells them to go back and test each brick.  
     The prosecutor is furious and tells the LEOs.  The LEO contacts his informant and accuses
the informant of setting him up.  The informant swears that the information was good.  The
informant participated in the loading of the bricks into the refrigerators and witnessed them
loading the refrigerators into the truck.  
     The LEOs think, the coke is hidden in the sugar.  [Several paragraphs of chemistry details
elided.]  The techs can't find the coke in the sugar.  
     In preliminary motions the defense counsel explains that the sugar was wrapped in
individual bricks because it is a boutique specialty sugar from the Dominican Republic
packaged for high end restaurants.  It was in the refrigerators as a matter of efficiency in
transport, no sense in wasting the space in the refrigerators.  It was just good shipping
technique.  
     The prosecutors stall because they know they are being duped.  They just can't figure out
how.  
     Let's look at the assets.  Tractor trail, $300,000.  It was a nice rig with a sleeper.  Sixteen
luxury refrigerator freezers, the kind restaurants would use, $80,000.  The sugar, $1000.  
The drugs, maybe $200,000,000.  If they exist, and we all know they do.  Why?  The defense
counsel attorney fees, well over $750,000, pre-trial.  What's wrong with this picture?  If the
defense counsel had never shown up, the government would have eventually returned
everything and released everyone.  
     The prosecutors should have hired Thomas Banacek.  Remember the TV show starring
George Peppard?  But, they didn't.  
["Banacek" was an American detective TV series starring George Peppard that aired on the
NBC network from 1972 to 1974.]  
---
     A Representative from the U.S. House of Representatives was holding an event in Arizona.  
A bad guy shot her and others before being apprehended.  She survived.  The big story that
received almost no coverage was that a federal district court judge was shot and killed at the
event.  The assassin wakes up every morning in his prison cell thinking, it was worth it.  
A case that that judge would have presided over is transferred to another judge (of a different
persuasion).  
     Judge shopping in the federal court system is difficult.  But there are maneuvers one can
make to change the judge on one's case.  Many short of killing the judge.  But, only killing
the judge ensures a different judge.  
---
     Defense counsel attempts to see Y and Z.  But the prison officials won't let him, saying
that they are represented by the prosecution attorneys.  So defense counsel asks a judge to
let him see the Y and Z, because they cannot be represented by prosecution attorneys, as
that is a ridiculous conflict of interest.  The judge writes an order telling the prison warden to
let the defense counsel speak to Y and Z.  Y and Z refuse to see the defense counsel, because
they think that he's a cartel attorney sent there to kill them.  So defense counsel sends a
message to Y and Z through the prison grapevine to inform them that there was no coke in
the truck and that they should talk to defense counsel to get things straightened out and get
out of prison.  Now Y and Z are really scared because they have made statements against X,
a cartel member.  So they start asking the prison guards for protection because they think
the cartel is going to kill them.  The prison guards relay the message to the prosecutors.  
     The prosecutors don't give a shit about Y and Z, but they see leverage.  But I'm going off
on a tangent.  
     Back to the point.  Where is the coke?  What happened to the coke?  
Oh, no, I'm sorry.  That's the wrong question.  What is the correct question?  What is the point?  
     What would prevent a judge from presiding over a case?  What would force a judge to
recuse himself from a case?  Or, a prosecutor?  Would the drug cartel leaders have the
wherewithal to plan and execute such a ploy?  Maybe.  But the children of the cartel leaders
who have attended the best law schools and business schools in the U.S. certainly would.  
     Oh, there's the coke.  
"1.3 Tons of Cocaine Found Floating in the Pacific Ocean" by Inside Edition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTeI_z3Cdo4
Sometimes even the best laid plans of mice and men . . .
 
"Tom Clancy Speaks at the National Security Agency"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS54M5Mqa9M
     A talk given in October 1986 by Tom Clancy.
Excerpts:  
     "The crypto guys won the [Second World] War for us.  If they didn't, they shortened
it by four years."  
     "The first thing you take off that Russian submarine is the crypto gear, right?"  
     "You have to expose a certain amount of information to make deterrence work."  
[If you keep your weapons secret, the enemy doesn't know about your weapons.  So the
enemy isn't scared of your weapons.  So your weapons have no deterrent effect. -- Jon Low]  
     "Soviet submarines phone home everyday?"  [Traffic analysis.  You don't have to decrypt.  
You don't have to translate.  Compare to U.S. submarines who maintain radio silence for
6 months.  Run silent, run deep. -- Jon Low]
 
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
 
*************************************************************************
 
     "You can’t truly call yourself 'peaceful' unless you are capable of great violence.  
If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless.  
Important distinction." -- Stef Starkgaryen
 
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email:  Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio:  KI4SDN