Monday, December 12, 2022

CWP, 12 December MMXXII Anno Domini

 Merry Christmas!  Sheepdogs,
     This blog is not free in the sense that you will have to expend your invaluable time
and effort to read it.  I give you my word that I have read everything referenced and
that in my humble opinion you will find it useful.  
     The information is divided into sections, so that
so you can skip sections that are not of interest to you:  
Prevention
     Mindset
     Safety
     Training     (training and practice will change your body language and behavior,
     Practice       which will cause the criminal predator to deselect you, so it is prevention)  
Intervention
     Strategy
     Tactics
     Techniques
Postvention
     Aftermath
     Survival and Medical
Education
     Legal
     Instruction
Gear
Religion, Politics, History, War Stories, et al
And for my old Marine Corps buddies,
     Cryptology (including signals intelligence and ground electronic warfare)
     Intelligence 
 
*************************************************************************
*****     *****     ***** Prevention *****     *****     *****
*************************************************************************
 
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
 
     . . . the average person struggles, in the words of the late trainer Paul Gomez,
"to get aggressive enough fast enough," and is left brutalized, broken, bereft,
bereaved, or dead.  
-- William Aprill
from "Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
     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
 
"That's a Thing #:17 Ego Control and Conflict While Armed" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Bo73fUKLs
 
"That's A Thing #12: Mindset" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF3YZSgn4Tg
 
"Fear is an instinct.  Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
 
"Your Mouth Is the Enemy" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCb5QOf_f4
     This is Biblical.  This is why you should move out of cities.  
     The "3 day test" is 3 days from now is it going to matter?  
Because in 3 days you may be dead or in prison for the rest of your life.  
 
From an email from Mike Ox --
     I asked the class a crazy question.
"What if you woke up to find a naked man in your living room, stealing your TV?"
     It was a trick question.  Stealing a TV takes 2 hands.  Naked + stealing TV implies no
weapons.  And possibly some non-violent mental issues.  
     I wasn't disappointed.  Every time I ask this to a group, at least one person says they'd
empty their gun on the thief.  Not that they'd challenge the attacker at gunpoint and call
police.  Or . . . if he did anything to pose a threat, shoot to stop the threat.  Typically,
someone will say they'll shoot until the gun goes "click."
     But is that the best response?  Morally?  Ethically?  Legally?
How will the legal system treat you if you have to defend yourself with a firearm and keep
shooting after the threat is stopped?  Most gun owners need training that protects them
from legal threats as much as from physical threats.  We've all heard the horror stories.
People losing gun rights, losing sleep, and losing their freedom because they defended
themselves.  That's why it's so important to do self-defense gun training in a way that
begins with the end in mind.  To reduce the chances of doing something you shouldn't do
under stress.  Shooting when you don't need to.  Shooting after the threat has been stopped.
And, to add an additional layer of protection from predatory attorneys.
     The vast majority of gun training doesn't do this.  And the way that you train can
expose you to additional liability after the smoke clears.  You don't want that.
-- Mike Ox
 
     "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
 
     "My right to live supersedes my boss's right to forbid guns in his workplace.  
I can always get another job, but I can't get another life."  
-- Massad Ayoob (this is what Mas heard, not what he said)
from "Straight Talk on Armed Defense"
 
"Predators!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/predators/
Excerpts:  
     As armed, "Apex Defenders," we need to think in terms of just whom we are.  
     As armed, Apex Defenders, in the process of protecting the innocent, we will fight
any evil predator to the death.  
     As such, we should not be surprised as sluttish leftist cowards in politics continually
seek our destruction!  
 
*************************************************************************
----- Safety -----  (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.  
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.)
 
Kiddies,
     Be aware.  Complacency kills.  
"Jugging" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/jugging/
Love,
Dad
 
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.  
 
     There are no accidents.  There is only negligence and recklessness due to ignorance
and carelessness.  
"Sheriff's deputy accidentally SHOOTS and injures Indiana high school student
during 'bad guy drill' " by Vanessa Serna
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11441635/Sheriffs-deputy-accidentally-SHOOTS-injures-Indiana-high-school-student-bad-guy-drill.html
     In the photo, Tim DisPennett, Vermillion County, Indiana Sheriff Deputy is seen wearing
a shirt that says, "Tim DisPennett Republican Candidate for Sheriff".  Dispennett will now
be the Democrat's poster child for gun control.  Thank you Deputy DisPennett.  You have
done more damage than you could have imagined.  
 
     "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
 
"That's A Thing Episode 11: Fumbling A Gun" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHjnnZFK6IY
 
"Blend or Bleed:  Will You Make the Right Choice?" by Ryan Domke
https://www.thearmorylife.com/blend-or-bleed-its-your-choice/
     If some little old lady reports to security that she got a bad vibe from you,
you were acting suspiciously, or there was something funny about you; you fail!  
Yes, security will start watching you.  Yes, they will contact police (Because they
don't want to have to deal with you.  They're job is only to observe and report.).  
 
"Cop Talk: Weapon Retention is a Life-and-Death Concern" by Massad Ayoob
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/cop-talk-weapon-retention-is-a-life-and-death-concern/
Excerpts:  
     "We must remember every suspect we close with has access to a pistol — ours."  
     "Nationwide, the commonly quoted figure was approximately 20% of police murdered
on duty were slain when the killer gained control of the officer’s weapon."  
     [My reading of statistics available to me, indicate that ~50% of snatched pistols were taken
from the officer's holster and ~50% were taken from the officer's hands. -- Jon Low]
     ". . . In my opinion, on-safe carry is a feature, not a bug, . . ."
     [I disagree.  The reason 65% of law enforcement in the U.S. use the Glock (designed
without a safety) is that none of these organizations have sufficient training time or budget
to get their officers competent with the safety in a high stress situation.  So if there is a
thumb safety, the officers don't defeat the safety (because they lack the training and practice)
and so can't fire the pistol.  
     The reason you don't want to add a thumb safety to a pistol that doesn't come with a thumb
safety is that you are not using the pistol as designed, which is a huge liability problem.  All
tools must be used as designed to avoid claims of negligence and recklessness.  
     Individual police officers would never modify their issued pistols.  So the order to add a
thumb safety to the Glock pistols that they were issued would come from the Police Chief or
the Mayor or the City Council.  These persons are immune from prosecution for criminal
recklessness and are immune from civil law suits claiming negligence, recklessness,
incompetence, failure to execute due diligence, etc. in such a situation.  So they don't care
how dangerous it is for the police officer.  And even if some activist judge allowed a civil
suit to proceed, the politicians would settle the law suit with tax payer money.  They would
never have any personal liability.  So they really don't care.  
-- Jon Low]
 
"It’s Time For Jews To Take Advantage Of The Second Amendment" by Sheila Nazarian
https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/30/opinion-its-time-for-jews-to-take-advantage-of-the-second-amendment-sheila-nazarian/
Excerpt:  
     "I was sitting in a lecture hall, watching a Holocaust survivor tell her heartbreaking story.  
I vividly remember one thing she told the audience.  “Arm yourselves,” she said, making
eye contact with us.  “In Germany, they took away our guns.  It was the first step.  Get as
many guns and as much ammunition as you can.”  
[She also urged training, but the author neglected to mention that. -- Jon Low]
 
"Sikhs Suing The United States Marine Corps To Be Allowed To Serve" by David Lane
https://www.recoilweb.com/sikhs-suing-the-united-states-marine-corps-to-be-allowed-to-serve-breaking-news-177487.html
Excerpt:  
     "This raises the question, if the US Army, US Air Force, and militaries around the
world can allow Sikhs to serve – why can’t the Marines?"  
     [Because wearing a beard prevents your gas mask from forming an air tight seal on your
face.  Because wearing a turban prevents your helmet from fitting on your head and
protecting your head.  Because body hair has a huge surface area, allowing things to cling
and grow.  It is not uncommon to go 6 months in the field without taking a bath, without
access to a medical facility.  
     Unlike the other branches of service, all Marines are expected to fight.  (Oh, you didn't
know that?  You think those pencil pushing pukes and desk jockeys ever touch a rifle?)  
     Unlike the Navy, Marines don't have non-line officers (the ones who don't wear a star
on their sleeve).  All Marine officers are expected to lead troops in combat.  
     Unlike the Army, Marines don't have "Specialists" as opposed to Corporals.  All
Marines are trained as Riflemen and are expected to act as Riflemen (that is to actually
fight and lead troops in the field).  
     Unlike the Air Force, Marines clean their own rooms and heads (bathrooms).  They
don't have maids to do it for them.  Marines run, do pull ups, and sit ups; as opposed
to "exercising" on stationary bicycles in air conditioned recreational rooms or playing
golf.   (Oh, didn't you know that Airmen could do their physical training by playing golf
on the golf course at Hickam Air Force Base?)
-- Jon Low]
 
"Avoid Being ATTACKED With These Tips #shorts Part 1" by Jocko Willink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCqAeykbFT4
 
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) -----
 
     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)
 
"Guardian Conference 2022 Highlights"
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3301110750172815/permalink/3426734080943814/
 
     Aqil Qadir is teaching the Rangemaster Combative Pistol Skills class.  
I'm taking it.  Hope to see you there.  It's going to be at ON TARGET SHOOTING SPORTS,
brand new indoor range in Hermitage, TN (Nashville).  
Feb 25-26, 2023
9:00 AM – 6:00 PM CST
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/combative-pistol-skills-tickets-467963811357
 
Defense Training International
     Training descriptions
https://defense-training.com/training-courses/
     Training schedule
https://defense-training.com/schedule/
     I [John Farnam] teach all Courses personally, and my Classes are small and intimate.  
After the first of the year (2023), prices go up.  
 
School-Focused Study of an Active Shooter: Planning & Training with Ed Monk, $75
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/school-focused-study-of-an-active-shooter-planning-training-with-ed-monk-tickets-411450899717
Fri, January 27, 2023
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM CST
1930 Air Lane Drive Nashville, TN 37210
---
Critical Law Enforcement Lessons-Learned from Active Shooter Attacks, $75
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/critical-law-enforcement-lessons-learned-from-active-shooter-attacks-tickets-441016751977
Fri, January 27, 2023
1:00 PM – 4:30 PM CST
1930 Air Lane Drive Nashville, TN 37210
---
Study of the Active Shooter Threat & How We Can Minimize Victims | Ed Monk, $75
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/study-of-the-active-shooter-threat-how-we-can-minimize-victims-ed-monk-tickets-441027303537
Sat, January 28, 2023
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM CST
1930 Air Lane Drive Nashville, TN 37210
---
Study of the Active Shooter Threat & How We Can Minimize Victims | Ed Monk, $75
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/study-of-the-active-shooter-threat-how-we-can-minimize-victims-ed-monk-tickets-441031265387
Sat, January 28, 2023
1:00 PM – 4:30 PM CST
1930 Air Lane Drive Nashville, TN 37210
 
"Cognitive Conclave", $500
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cognitive-conclave-tickets-484870228907
Sat, Apr 29, 2023, 9:00 AM – Sun, Apr 30, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT
Red Hill Range 2208 Toms Creek Road Martin, GA 30557
Erick Gelhaus, John Hearne, and Lee Weems team up to offer this unique
learning opportunity with a heavy focus on the cognitive application of the pistol.  
 
FPF Training schedule for 2023.  
https://www.fpftraining.com/fpf-calendar
 
KR Training schedule for 2023.  
https://blog.krtraining.com/kr-training-dec-2022-newsletter/
 
"That's a Thing #16: Training in the rain" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpdbwUlsMu0
     Protecting your paper targets from the rain by spraying Scotchgard on them.  
Scotchgard is a registered trademark of 3M.  
     As mentioned in the comments, clear plastic bags work well.  
     There are also a lot of plastic targets on the market.  More expensive.  But they don't
get blown apart by the muzzle blast when firing from close contact distances.  
     You can also rub paraffin on the paper target, like coloring with a crayon.  
     Or, you could glue the paper target to the cardboard backer and then put a layer of
clear glue over the top while you're at it.  Diluted Elmer's glue works fine.  
     Other videos in the "That's a Thing" series,
https://www.youtube.com/@fpftraining
 
"Take training from different instructors.  
We are all wrong about something."  
-- John Farnam
 
"How To Prepare For Gun School
Good firearms training costs time and money.  Don't waste it!  
Here are seven ways to prepare for gun school and get the most out of a training course."  
by Richard Nance
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/how-to-prepare-for-gun-school/466217
Research The Course
Familiarize Yourself With The Curriculum
Pack Accordingly
Empty Your Cup
Ask Questions (As Jeff Gonzales says, you can always ask "Why?")  
Take Notes
Practice
 
“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
 
"That's a Thing #18: Training Scars" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGHbCP46AcU
 
"That's a Thing #13: Negative and Positive Targetry and Taping" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVllCNfiqUY
 
"Home Invader Shoots Accomplice; Is Then Shot With Accomplices Gun" by Derek Burton
https://www.usacarry.com/home-invader-shoots-accomplice/
     Bad guys impersonate police all the time.  It is best you get some training on how to
handle such a situation, how to determine that they really are cops.  (Cops shoot other
cops all the time.)  
     The bad guys wore body armor.  Do you know where to aim on such targets?  If not,
better take a class.  (Hips and cranial-ocular cavity.)
     Are you hesitant to shoot someone in a uniform and wearing a badge?  That hesitation
is enough to get you killed.  Prison is bad, but it's better than being dead.  There is always
the possibility of pardon, clemency, acquittal, commutation, reduced charges in a plea
deal, charges being dropped for lack of evidence, charges being dropped because the
prosecutor doesn't think he can win at trial, etc.  God works in mysterious ways and works
all things for your good.  (If God needs you in prison to save the soul of an inmate, He is
going to put you there.)  
 
"Neuroscientist: Danger Of Being TOO GOOD | Andrew Huberman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9zMO9Taw5Y
     Getting too comfortable, complacency kills (you).  
 
"Student Handgunner: A/B Testing: A Smart Approach to Better Shooting" by Clayton Walker
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/student-handgunner-a-b-testing-a-smart-approach-to-better-shooting/
     Experimental design and methodology for training.  
     Change only one thing at a time.  So you can see the effect of that one change.  
Changing more than one thing at a time, completely masks the effect of any of those changes.  
In which case, you don't learn anything.  If you think you do, you're wrong.  
 
"Hick’s Law and the Quagmire: Understanding Decision Making in Law Enforcement"
by Chris Butler and Marc Ruskey
https://calibrepress.com/2022/11/hicks-law-and-the-quagmire-understanding-decision-making-in-law-enforcement/
     Wow, really verbose article saying that Hick's law applies to conscious decision making
and does not apply to unconscious decision making.  Well, that's obvious to anyone who
bothers to read the paper.  As the authors state, most of the persons teaching about Hick's Law
have not read the paper.  So they don't know what they are talking about.  
---
Hick, W. E., “On the Rate of Gain of Information”,
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 4, p11-26, 1952 A.D.
     The paper actually says, the more decisions you must make, the slower you go.  And the
more options you must choose from in each decision, the slower you go.  The conclusion
is that to execute faster, minimize the number of necessary decisions and minimize the
number of options that must be chosen from in each decision.  
     So for instance:  always clear your concealment garment the same way (no matter what
garment you are wearing), always wear your equipment in the same place, always execute
immediate action when the gun fails to fire (It will be obvious when something else
needs to be done.), always shoot to the center of mass of whatever the available target is.  
No decisions, just immediate execution.  
     The morons at the police academies are attempting to apply Hick's Law to high order
intellectual conscious decision making.  Which is nonsense.  And then concluding that
Hick's Law is junk science.  No, Hick's Law is good science.  The morons at the cited police
academies are just morons.  
 
"Close Quarters Pistol Gunfighting"
by Greg Ellifritz - Active Response Training
https://www.facebook.com/events/1263083594455867/
 
"The Irony of Slow is Smooth" by Jeff L. Gonzales
https://tridentconcepts.com/2022/11/26/the-irony-of-slow-is-smooth/
Excerpt:  
     "Before you can be expected to execute any action or activity, it must first be flawlessly
developed.  The only way to accomplish this task is by slowing down so the end user can
see the action required, to the level of precision needed to complete the task.  Before you
can expect to have a one second drawstroke, you must first understand and be able to
apply the fundamentals of the drawstroke.  You developed this skill by thinking your way
through each step so you can apply the required level of precision to your movements."  
     "When the student can slow their movements down it allows them to perfect their
technique."  
     "Starting slower gets you to your goal faster.  You ingrain the proper neural pathways
and therefore it helps to accelerate the learning process.  When you slow down you can
start to internalize the tacit knowledge.  This knowledge is difficult to express or verbalize.  
It is more like intuition that is developed with experience and this is where the smooth
comes from."  
     "technique (slow), consistency (smooth) and then intensity (fast)"
     [I once watched one of our teams do a body extraction in Frunze (Bishkek), Kyrgyzstan.  
This was before the September 11 attacks.  It was like watching a ballet. -- Jon Low]  
---
"Weekly Whiteboard: Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast" by Christopher Fussell
https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/insights/weekly-whiteboard-slow-is-smooth-smooth-is-fast/
---
"Is Slow Smooth and is Smooth Fast?" by Travis Pike
https://gatdaily.com/is-slow-smooth-and-is-smooth-fast/
Excerpts:  
     "You start by going fast and sloppy, and eventually, in training, you’ll get better."  
[I disagree.  By "going fast and sloppy" you will engrain bad habits that must be broken.  
Which wastes a lot of training time.  (If the bad habit is recognized and corrected.  Often
it is not, because there is no competent instructor present to recognize the problem.)  
-- Jon Low]  
     "When fast and sloppy eventually becomes fast and smooth, . . ."  
[I disagree.  "Fast and sloppy" never "becomes fast and smooth".  The bad habit is
engrained by repetition and stays "fast and sloppy".  That's why I don't teach this
nonsense. -- Jon Low]  
     [The author compares weight lifting with presentation from the holster and shooting.  
The first is a brute force operation (not even requiring balance if the weights are attached
to a machine).  The second is a fine motor skill requiring fine balance (even when braced
against a support).  So the comparison is fallacious. -- Jon Low]  
     ". . . if you keep practicing and training, your fast will become smooth."  
[I disagree.  The correct statement should have been,
". . . if you keep practicing and training, your smooth will become fast."  
-- Jon Low]  
---
                    --- Precision of language is precision of thought. ---
     The correct statement is -
Slow is smooth (because you can control what you're doing).  
Smooth is efficient (because controlling what you are doing removes inefficiencies).  
Efficient is fast (because there is no wasted motion).  
Fast is good  (because whoever hits first usually wins).  
[Which is not the same as whoever shoots first.]
                    ---  This is analogous to ---
     "Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light."  False on many levels.  
     The correct statement is -
"Information cannot travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum."  
     Shine light through a quartz crystal.  The light will be traveling at about ⅔ c (two thirds of
the speed of light in a vacuum), because the index of refraction of quartz is so high.  It's easy
to shine a beam of electrons at 0.99 c through the quartz crystal, because the electrons don't
interact with the silicon atoms.  So, lots of things can go faster than light in many media.  
     Take your laser pointer and shine a spot on the Moon.  You can't hold your laser pointer
perfectly still (whatever that would mean).  So the spot of light on the Moon will be moving
around at greater than c, because the distance to the Moon is so great.  So lots of things can
move faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.  
     The reason information can't move faster than the speed of light in a vacuum is that it
would create causality problems.  The observer would know that an event occurred before
the event occurred.  That's Relativity.  Time isn't what you think it is.  You have to study
Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity to understand what time is.  Space isn't what you think
it is either.  [If you build a GPS system without Relativity, it won't work.  Our GPS system
works because Relativistic equations are used, not classical Newtonian equations.   So
Relativity is real.  Relativity might not be correct, but it is closer to reality than classical
Newtonian mechanics.]  
---
     "What's the point, Staff?"  
     There is a lot of stuff on the internet.  You have to be very careful what you consume.  
I'm here to encourage you to be critical.  And to analyze before implementing.  
Because it might be wrong.  
     And if you are teaching, you have a duty to your students to filter the myriad of
information that you receive before passing anything on to your students.  Due diligence.  
 
From an email by Mike Ox --
. . .
     "In a gunfight, your shooting skills are relatively unimportant."  
Huh?  Was he crazy?  What could be more important than shooting in a gunfight?
     Then he told me . . .
Many of [his] missions were successes BECAUSE they pulled them off without firing a shot.  
It saved lives, preserved intel and assets, and became critical as "embedded attorneys"
became more common.  
     [For those of you who have never had legal officers embedded in your unit, you don't
know what a mess those idiots cause.  (The Soviets called them political officers.)  
I once had a full bird, Col. Dayday, JAG officer at MAG-49, tell me, "You realize what you
did was illegal and that you could be charged with murder for that."  At first I thought he
was joking.  But, he was telling me to be careful. -- Jon Low]  
     "When it comes time to shoot, shooting is a critical skill.  But there are several things
besides shooting that are more important in a gunfight."  
He called them the "pre-fight," "fight," and the "post-fight" skills.  
Awareness is more important than shooting.  
Accurately assessing threats is more important than shooting.  
Avoidance is more important than shooting.  
Deterrence is more important than shooting.  
All of these can prevent you from even needing to shoot.  
     For the fight . . . did you accurately determine THAT you needed to shoot?  
[Did you accurately determine WHO you needed to shoot?  No joke, there are 15 guys in
your field of fire and no one is wearing a uniform.  It's dark.  They all have a similar body
type. -- Jon Low]
Did you keep shooting after the threat was stopped or
re-holster only to have the threat "re-animate?"  
     Post-fight, did your interaction with 911 or law enforcement turn justified
self-defense into legal jeopardy?  
-- Mike Ox
 
"Police Training Deaths" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/police-training-deaths
Excerpt:  
     People won’t stop getting hurt until everyone knows proper safety protocols and
refuses to participate in training classes with inadequate safety practices.  
     Articles that Greg links to for protocol and gear suggestions:  
"TRAINING SAFELY | And NOT Hurting Our Students" by Erick Gelhaus
https://americancop.com/training-safely-and-not-hurting-our-students/
"No One Should Die in Department Scenario-Based Training" by Matthew Maruster
https://www.concealedcarry.com/gear/no-one-should-die-in-department-scenario-based-training/
"And yet another innocent training participant shot dead in scenario based training –
CLICK LINKS BELOW FOR SAFETY PROTOCOLS TO HELP PREVENT THESE
THINGS" by (no author listed)
https://www.rbta.net/and-yet-another-innocent-training-participant-shot-dead-by-someone-clueless-about-the-complications-of-scenario-based-training/
 
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.
 
     Todd Fossey demonstrates a cold weather practice session for us.  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3301110750172815/permalink/3421162911500931/
     Notice that he keeps his gloves on.  You won't have time to take your gloves off.  
If you don't wear gloves, your finger will get numb and you will lose fine motor control.  
Thin tight gloves are essential.  
 
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
 
     "Reflexes, for example, short-circuit conscious control for the sake of speed.  
If you hear a sudden, loud sound, I can predict you'll twitch and your heart rate
will spike."
-- Sabine Hossenfelder
from "Existential Physics" page 199.  
     It's a whole chapter on "to what extent humans are predictable".  If you can predict the
enemy's behavior, you can win.  If you do things that the enemy did not / could not
predict, you can win.  Are you practicing for that?  Do you know how to practice for that?  
     Simply assuming the enemy is less intelligent, less trained, and less practiced than you
are, is a recipe for failure.  Why do you think the criminal predator chose to attack you in
the first place?  He had lots of people to choose from.  He chose you.  Think about it.  
     "I don't have to worry about it.  I don't have to get training or practice.  I've never been
attacked.  I probably never will be attacked."  That is a logical fallacy.  If you have made
that mistake, own it.  Correct it.  
 
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
 
"Sinistromanual Pro Tip:
If You’re a Lefty, Learn to Shoot Right-Handed"
by TTAG Contributor
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/guns-for-beginners-if-youre-a-lefty-learn-to-shoot-right-handed/
 
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."  
-- Tom Givens
 
"I CHALLENGE YOU to Dot Torture!!!" by Memphis Beech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gJXFCUYaAg
     As Memphis Beech says, this is not a skill to be mastered by practicing it repeatedly to
get a better score.  This is a diagnostic test that tells you what you need to work on.  Please
use it as such.  
 
"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) -----
 
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
 
"Escalation! “I PULL, THEN HE PULLS!” " by Hock Hochheim
https://www.forcenecessary.com/escalation-with-weapons-i-pull-then-he-pulls/
     You don't pull unless you are justified in shooting.  Once you pull, the only thing that
prevents you from shooting is the enemy's behavior.  So if the enemy pulls, you shoot.  
If he does anything other than run away or drop his weapon and surrender, you shoot.  
Because you were already justified in shooting when you pulled your weapon.  
 
     Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
 
"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
 
     "When you need to move, move.  
When you need to shoot, shoot." 
-- Jeff Gonzales (paraphrased)
 
"That's A Thing #:14 Priorities" by John Muphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxmyxOdEqk8
 
"That's a Thing #15
Follow Through on the shot,
follow UP on the shooting" by John Murphy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_XPj5kzc0Q
 
"Learn to Communicate
No man (or woman) is an island, especially in a defensive encounter."  
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/learn-to-communicate/
Excerpt:  
     "Keep it simple, keep it short, and keep it loud is the recipe for success."  
[In the Marine Corps, we were taught to use hand signals before contact with the enemy.  
After contact, you have to yell as loud as you can, because you're talking over the gun
fire. -- Jon Low]
 
"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
 
“ Testing "Get Off The X" and "Tap, Rack, Roll" ” by Kjell Rosenberg M.D
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/testing-get-off-the-x-and-tap-rack-roll/
Excerpt:  
     Conclusions:
In my estimation, there is no reason why a defender should not move off the X if the context
allows them to do so.  In fact, there is a potential detriment to standing in place as the
defender will be an easier target for the violent criminal actor.  Nor is there any good reason
to avoid tapping the magazine base-plate to ensure proper engagement when a malfunction
occurs.  There is, however, a much larger time cost for those who remove the “tap” from
their procedure if the rare necessity of a “tap” is required.  
 
"Front Sight Focus or Point Shooting–Which Is Better?" by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/front-sight-focus-or-point-shooting-which-is-better/
     Mike gives lists of pros and cons.  And some free training videos.  
 
"10 Levels of Deception: The Neuroscience of Magic" by Daniel Roy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOlBHoOYzXM
     Do you see how you can use this to defeat your enemies?  
1.  The unexpected.  The enemy does not expect you to explosively counter attack, unless
you're stupid enough to telegraph your intent.  There are lots of things the enemy does not
expect, and you can use all of them.  
2.  False assumptions.  The enemy is assuming you are a good victim.  That's why he is
attacking you in the first place.  He assumes that he is going to win.  He is making many
other false assumptions.  You can use all of them against him.  
3.  Inattentional blindness.  You can cognitively blind him for several seconds.  More than
enough time for you to access your pistol, or gouge his eyes, or palm strike his chin causing
him to bite off his tongue, or palm strike his nose to crush the soft cartilage of his nose
causing tearing and blinking (temporary blindness), etc.  
"selective attention test" by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
4.  Moving the spotlight.  Your enemy is in a high stress state.  Therefore his attention is on
you.  So, he's not perceiving much.  It is actually very easy to trick him.  If you are digging
around in your pocket with your left hand trying to get your wallet out, he's not going to see
what your right hand is doing.  And you have practiced drawing one handed with your right
hand, correct?  Of course, you have.  
"Our attention is a very narrow spotlight."  
"We are social creatures and have a natural propensity to follow large gestures."  
5.  Initial and final condition.  
"Magic is the difference between the initial condition and final condition with the impression
that there is no causal link."  
6.  Change blindness.  "An observer may fail to notice changes to the environment if their
vision is briefly interrupted (by distraction, a physical obstacle, etc.)."    
If you move behind the gas pump, he won't notice you drawing your pistol, especially if you
do it surreptitiously.  
7.  True and false statements.  The mixing thereof.  
8.  Hand gestures.  
9.  Time delay.  
7, 8, and 9 can be used to induce false memories.  [Don't believe this?  Do a literature search
and you will find many documented cases where psychiatrists have induced false memories
convincing women that they were raped by their fathers when they were young children.  
You will also find cases where psychiatrists convinced adults that they were raped by their
preschool teachers when they were in preschool.  (The cases were in Massachusetts, just
like the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials.)  That is one of the reasons the Scientologists
hate psychiatrists.  No, really.]  
10.  The real mystery.  
Daniel Roy offers private lessons.  You may contact him at
Daniel@DanielRoyMagic.com
 
"6 Reasons Why You Should Carry Defensive Tools in Front of the Hips" by Salvatore
https://www.usacarry.com/6-reasons-carry-defensive-tools-front-hips/
     [It is almost impossible to draw from an appendix holster while seated without muzzling
yourself. -- Jon Low]  
     "It facilitates a Surreptitious Draw"  
[I disagree.  If your pistol is holstered at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock, you can turn your pistol away
from the enemy.  If your pistol is in front of you, you can't turn your pistol away from the
enemy.  Unless you turn your back to the enemy. -- Jon Low]  
     "More Accessible to Either Hand"
[I disagree.  If your pistol is holstered at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock, you can reach around your
front or your back to access your pistol with your support side hand.  With appendix carry,
you can't reach around your back to get your pistol.  Yes, as a matter of fact, I teach these
techniques in my classes. -- Jon Low]  
 
     Lots of instructors teach shooting with the support side hand (as opposed to the firing
side hand).  But very few teach how to access the holstered pistol with the support side
hand.  That's why I do.  
 
"Learn to Search Slow & Carefully
Haste makes waste. Worse still, it could make the difference between life and death."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/learn-to-search-slow-carefully/
Excerpt:  
     Go slow and be thorough.  
 
"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.  
 
     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  
 
“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
 
----- Survival, Medical, etc. -----
 
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
 
     There are many Ukrainian families here in Nashville that gather at the Jewish Community
Center every week to study Ukrainian language and culture.  They saw the Russian invasion
coming (situational awareness), prepared, and left in plenty of time.  They are now here in
Nashville, TN living with friends, relatives, or on their own in houses and apartments.  They
have more than the clothes on their backs because they saw the invasion coming and took
precautions.  As Sherman says, "If you prepare for the emergency, the emergency ceases to
exist!"  None of them are on welfare.  
     People think Herr Doctor Professor Albert Einstein was smart because of his writings on
Relativity and such.  But what made all that possible was his situational awareness.  He saw
the NAZIs (National Socialists) rising and left for Switzerland, worked in the patent office,
and then moved to the United States.  
     Don't get yourself and your family killed or imprisoned.  Leave if you don't have the
training and arms to kill the government agents.  If you have the ways and means,
kill the enemy.  As General James Mattis says, killing the enemy is fun.  No, it really is.  I've
done it.  Send your family to safety and kill the enemy.  Remember your oath to defend
the Constitution against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC.  
 
"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
 
"Active Response Training" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/
 
Rangemaster DECEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER
https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-12_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
 
"10 Commandments of Concealed Carry" by Massad Ayoob
https://www.tactical-life.com/lifestyle/tactics/10-commandments-of-concealed-carry/
1 – If You Carry Concealed, Always Carry
2 – Don’t Carry Concealed If You Aren’t Prepared To Use It
3 – Don’t Let The Gun Make You Reckless
4 – Get The License!
5 – Know What You’re Doing
6 – Concealed Carry Means Concealed
7 – Maximize Your Firearms Familiarity
8 – Understand The Fine Points
9 – Carry An Adequate Firearm
10 – Use Common Sense
     Read the article for the salient details.  
 
"Erik Breaks the Internet" by Lee Weems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vaEmr6WylA
     I prefer video because much of communication is non-verbal.  
     Using a compensator is criminal stupidity.  In a close contact confrontation, the
compensator will blow hot gas, carbon, and burning power into your eyes.  
     Low flash powder is good.  That's why you must use as long a barrel as you can
to give the powder time and distance over which to burn.  
 
"Thanksgiving Gun Control Conversation Survival Tips for EGRs . . . " by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/thanksgiving-gun-control-conversation-survival-tips-egrs/
     The common sense rebuttal to anti-gun propaganda.  
 
"Tucker Carlson: This is a grotesque and filthy lie"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lwRCI0HeWQ
     Liberal media have no qualms about lying to their audience.  And their audience has no
qualms about believing the lies.  Believing obvious lies.  Consider the state of mind of the
believer.  
 
"My Favorite Defunct Gun Blogs" by Daniel Reedy
https://www.primerpeak.com/my-favorite-defunct-gun-blogs/
     Melody Lauer can be found on FaceBook.com.  
     Marcus Wynne has passed, but his blog is still up at
https://marcuswynne.com/blog/
Archives go back to January 2010.  
 
John Lott says (in a letter that he sent me),
     The FBI claims that armed civilians stop only 4% of active shooting attacks.  We showed
that in 2021 it was 49%.  58% if you look at non-gun-free zones.  
     We conducted surveys showing that support for Red Flag laws goes from 2-to-1 in
favor to almost 2-to-1 opposed when people are told that there is no hearing before guns
are taken away, and that mental health care professionals are not involved in the process.  
[Also note that other dangerous weapons such as explosives, knives, and cars are not taken
away. -- Jon Low]
     Another survey showed that Democrats think that 58% of violent crime involves guns,
Republicans 38%, but the true number is less than 8%.  Those who think the percentage
is the highest are the strongest supporters of more gun control.  
     You can support the research by donating at
CrimeResearch.org
 
"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
 
Email from John Harris --
     "I have been in 2 days of hearings with ATF this week fighting against its attempt to
revoke the license of yet another gun dealer whose alleged to have made errors in records
which even the ATF agent admitted did not implicate prohibited persons or create a risk
to the public.  
     During one of the breaks, the ATF representative commented that most of its revocation
hearings take 1/2 a day or less, one was as short as an hour.  It was almost as if they were
laughing at the fact that so many dealers do not take these hearings seriously in an effort
to defend their licenses or to try and protect the 2nd Amendment supply chain.  
     And, by and large, the 2nd Amendment advocates in the state and country are not even
pressuring their GOP elected officials to shut down the ATF's attack on the 2nd Amendment
supply chain."  
-- John Harris (attorney in Nashville, TN), 1 December 2022 A.D.  
 
"Does the Second Amendment Protect Firearms Commerce?
Defending the right to sell and trade arms"
by David B. Kopel
https://harvardlawreview.org/2014/04/does-the-second-amendment-protect-firearms-commerce/
Excerpt:  
     Moreover, the text of the Second Amendment point to the necessity of commerce in arms.  
The Second Amendment aims to provide the conditions for “[a] well regulated Militia.”  
State and federal militia statutes of the period were unanimous in requiring all persons subject
to militia service to provide themselves with specified types of rifles, muskets, or handguns.  
In late eighteenth-century America (like at every other period in American history), firearms
were not like apple pies, which a typical family could make at home.  Firearms were like books
or newspapers: they were items of commerce that were nearly impossible to produce without
specialized equipment and skill.  In order for the militia to be armed, it was necessary that
there be thriving business in the commercial manufacture and sale of firearms.  
 
     "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."  
 
"After months of debate, Honolulu police close to issuing first concealed carry gun permits"
by Daryl Huff
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/11/19/after-months-debate-honolulu-police-close-issuing-first-concealed-carry-gun-permits/
     The required training and testing are way more than in any other state.  
Good to see my friend, Russell Tangi, is still instructing.  He was an instructor
for the Honolulu Police Department and Sig Sauer.  
 
"Woman Calls 911 for Help, has Firearms Confiscated by Police" by John Crump    
https://www.ammoland.com/2022/11/woman-calls-911-for-help-has-firearms-confiscated-by-police/
     Living in Nassau County, New York is an act of criminal stupidity.  Ya, I used to live there.  
 
"Big News!  Now They Are Coming After NRA Firearms Instructors!" by Guns & Gadgets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS9EU3bkmC0
Senate Bill S9601, 2021-2022 Legislative Session
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/s9601
---
"No More NRA Instructors in New York!" by Liberty Doll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9claEgJQ5A
 
"What is Really Demoralizing Your Police Officers" by Eve Kulcsar
https://americancop.com/what-is-really-demoralizing-your-police-officers/
Excerpt:  
     . . . if the prosecutor believes he can get a conviction before an arrest, he agrees to charges.  
Charging a suspect in this process is subjected to the conviction test – before anyone hears
any of the evidence!  This is to make an arrest in the first place.  If you are the victim who has
had the sanctity and security of your home violated, had your valuable (and sentimental)
items stolen, you would want your day in court, wouldn’t you?  Well, if the prosecutor does
not think he can win the case – good luck to you.  You won’t have any day in court, let alone
any opportunity even to appeal that decision because there was no ruling to appeal.  Felony
review happens BEFORE court.  
     For the record, both prosecutors and judges enjoy complete immunity.  
. . .
     In my six years of policing in Illinois, I’ve testified in exactly ZERO felony trials.  
. . .
     One hundred percent of my cases have been pled out – meaning the individual took a
guilty plea [to a lesser offense].  
. . .
     All the drama we see in fictional cop T.V. shows . . . that’s precisely what it is.  
Fiction.  A prosecuting attorney prepping for a trial is as rare as a lightning strike.  
. . .
     . . . imagine someone having charges dropped or dismissed – again before going to
court – because another attorney determines the case is either un-winnable or has some
political bent against prosecuting that crime.  As the victim, you have no recourse.  
---
     "Eve is telling the truth.  In 25 years as a police officer, I never had a single felony
case go to a jury trial."  
-- Greg Ellifritz
 
"Hawaii gun permit ruling sides with ‘homesick’ Navy officer" by Jennifer Sinco Kelleher
https://www.yahoo.com/now/hawaii-gun-permit-ruling-sides-230651872.html
     Don't understand the craziness of the anti-gun liberal?  Live in Hawaii for a year.  
 
"Lawmakers Push to End Permitless Carry in Shelby County, Tennessee"
by Rafael Figueroa
https://www.laprensalatina.com/lawmakers-push-to-end-permitless-carry-in-shelby-county/
     Shelby county is Memphis, TN.  Davidson county is Nashville, TN.  It is only the three
urban centers of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville that attract all the liberals.  The rest of
the state of Tennessee is gun loving, Bible reading, conservatives.  
 
"THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF LAWFUL SELF-DEFENSE" by Steve Moses
https://ccwsafe.com/news/the-five-elements-of-lawful-self-defense/
 
"Chasing Criminals - Serious Mistake" by tacticalprofessor
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2022/12/02/chasing-criminals-serious-mistake/
---
"California robbery suspect killed store clerk, not charged with murder;
victim didn’t act in self-defense: DA" by Louis Casiano
https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-robbery-suspect-killed-store-clerk-not-charged-murder-victim-didnt-act-self-defense
     Once the threat is stopped, it's over for the civilian defender.  Stop!  Call 911.  
Chasing the fleeing bad guy is wrong on many levels, the most important of which is
you can get killed.  You can't claim self-defense if you're chasing the bad guy.  You
should always be trying to get away from the bad guy.  
 
At The Washington Times:  
"Gun confiscation is not the solution to mass shootings" by John Lott
https://crimeresearch.org/2022/11/at-the-washington-times-gun-confiscation-is-not-the-solution-to-mass-shootings/
 
Email from Andrew Branca --
Hello Jon,
     On November 30 a civil lawsuit was filed against the Sig Sauer firearms company in
Federal court in New Hampshire.  The suit is brought by no fewer than 20 plaintiffs, all
with similar claims -- that the company's P320 pistol was defectively designed, that this
defect caused them serious injury, and that Sig Sauer should be held liable for those
injuries.
     This suit is of particular interest to me in that I've carried a variety of Sig pistols --
including for many years the P320 -- for personal protection.  I was also for more than a
decade a subject matter expert adjunct instructor at the Sig Academy on use-of-force law.  
     That said, my expertise is use-of-force law, and this is a civil suit -- so I've invited an
attorney, Dani Ahn, an experienced civil litigator, to share her expert insights into this
lawsuit.  
"Sig Sauer Sued! Dani Ahn, Civil Litigator, Joins to Discuss!" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkBINkHnM_s
     "Enhanced damages"  
     "Doubling and trebling of damages"
     "Attorney's fees"
     Do you understand?  
---
"How can a P320s fire un-commanded? AKA P320 fires while in its holster?"
by Grey Wolf Armory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK66ua7-Bm0
     The sear engagement is only ⅓ of a millimeter?  
Check out the measurements in this video.  
 
"Federal District Court Rules “prohibited person” status due to order of protection is
unconstitutional" by John Harris
https://tennesseefirearms.com/2022/12/federal-district-court-rules-prohibited-person-status-due-to-order-of-protection-is-unconstitutional/
 
"Don’t Call It a “Negligent” Discharge" by Ken Crane and Lon Bartel
https://www.policemag.com/651367/dont-call-it-a-negligent-discharge
Excerpts:  
1. The accidental discharge occurs when a firearm discharges absent human interaction
with the trigger.  
2. The intentional discharge is defined as intentionally doing everything needed to fire the gun.  
3.  The unintentional voluntary is defined as doing everything needed to make the gun go
off simply believing it to be unloaded.  
4.  The unintentional involuntary, which is caused by three primary means with the common
variable of improper trigger finger placement:
* Startle response is when the operator’s finger is on the trigger or in very close proximity
followed by an external stimulus, usually a loud noise causing an involuntary clench of the
firing hand which can result in an unintended press of the trigger.  
* Sympathetic response—also referred to as a contralateral contraction and/or activation —
occurs when the operator’s finger is on the trigger or in very close proximity followed by
utilizing the support hand to grab, move, push, or pull something which results in
contraction and/or involuntary sympathetic squeeze of the primary hand, which in turn
can result in an unintentional discharge.  This also occurs with jumping and kicking
movements.  
* Balance disruption occurs when the operator’s finger is on the trigger or in very close
proximity followed by any form of balance disruption such as a forward or backward
stumble or having another person or object fall into you unexpectedly.  Resultant balance
disruption can trigger an involuntary clenching of the primary hand resulting in an
unintentional discharge.  
     [In my humble opinion, if you believe the pistol is unloaded when it is loaded that is
an act of negligence.  If you have your trigger finger on the trigger or in very close
proximity to the trigger when you have not decided to fire, that is negligence.  Redefining
terms to avoid using the term "negligence" to reduce the consequences of negligence is
an agenda that I don't subscribe to. -- Jon Low]
 
    “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 -----
 
"Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
 
     In Sabine's Preface to her book "Existential Physics" ISBN 9781984879455 -
The disconnect between experts and non-experts is so widespread that the sociologist Steve
Fuller claims that academics use incomprehensible terminology to keep insights sparse and
thereby more valuable.  As the American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas
Kristof complained, academics encode "insights into turgid prose" and "as a double
protection against public consumption, this gobbledygook is then sometimes hidden in
obscure journals."
---
     Let us self-defense / firearms instructors never succumb to such obfuscation (as
SCOTUS Justice Thomas would say).  
 
"Teaching" by Matt Little
https://greybeardactual.com/blog/teaching/
     Prof. Norman Christ (Physics Dept., Columbia University) told me that the test of
whether or not you understand a thing is your ability to explain it to another.  And the
test of whether or not you have a deep understanding of the thing is your ability to
explain it to a layman (a person who does not understand the terminology of the
discipline, who does not know the underlying assumptions of the field).  
     I know Matt.  I took a class from him at the Guardian Conference.  I read his blog.  
He has a deep understanding of what he speaks.  
 
"Defining Instructions by Attributes:  Four User Groups" by Ethan Johns
https://www.swatmag.com/article/defining-instructions-attributes-four-user-groups/
Excerpt:  
     ". . . there is much more differentiating the groups than simple accuracy.  
A basic user can be counted upon to hit the target the size of a vital zone under moderate
stress out to around ten yards, while
a mission user can probably do the same stepping laterally and from the holster at speed, and
the special mission user can likely match that standard shooting a nonstandard response
on the move in low light."  
     I'm pretty sure the author's use of "IA drill" refers to Immediate Action drill,
clearing malfunctions with Tap, Rack, Assess.  
     I'm pretty sure the author's use of "TTP" stands for tactics, techniques, and procedures.  
 
"Thoughts on Instructor Certifications" by Salvatore
https://reflexhandgun.com/2022/11/22/thoughts-on-instructor-certifications/
Excerpt:  
     I think there is value in “instructor development” classes, which are courses that teach
instructors to be better teachers.  Such classes attract participants who wish to actually get
better at instructing, not people who want an easy way to obtain a proclaimed expertise in
something.  However, courses that certify the participant to teach a particular curriculum
are problematic.  The issue with such courses is not necessarily the content, but with the
perception of the student who participates. 
---
[Let me give you examples.  
     If you take the Instructor Development course from Tom Givens or John Farnam,
they will teach you HOW to teach.  Though this is sometimes subtle and may not be obvious
when you take the class.  
     If you take the Instructor Development course from Front Sight or Suarez Tactical,
they teach you WHAT to teach.  They expect you to teach for them.  They expect you to
teach their material.  They expect you to have the integrity to not change their material.  
     If you apply for and received the Advanced Pistol Instructor certification from the NRA,
the NRA allows you to teach the NRA Defensive Pistol course.  The NRA sets minimum
requirements on what you must teach, but the NRA does not impose any limit on the
length of the class or what you may teach in the class.  So when I teach the course to newbies,
it can take 6 days, and is modeled on the Front Sight 4-day Defensive Handgun course, which
in turn is based on the Gunsite 5-day 250 Pistol Class, as Ignatius Piazza (Front Sight owner)
was an early student of Jeff Cooper, and Brad Akman (Director of Training) was an early
employee of Jeff Cooper.  
-- Jon Low]  
 
     I have a student who told me that she does not wear pants with belt loops.  I asked her
to do so for our training, otherwise there would be nothing holding the gun belt down.  
When she pulled up on her pistol, the holster went up, the belt went up, and the pistol did
not come out of the holster.  
     She said she would find some other way to carry the pistol.  I explained the short
comings of all other carry positions.  For beginner training, carrying on the belt at
3 o'clock for right-handers and 9 o'clock for left-handers is the best.  Other carry positions
may be tried when the student is competent to do so, but not in the beginning.  
     Carrying at 3 o'clock for right-handers and 9 o'clock for left-handers allows the student
to present from the holster to the target without muzzling any part of their body and
without muzzling anyone around them.  
 
     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
 
"Neuroscientist: How To Learn Quickly | Andrew Huberman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RpCXqTJHSI
 
     "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
 
"Unsung Heroes: Underrated Carry Guns" by Dave Merrill & Tom Marshall
https://gundigest.com/gun-reviews/unsung-heroes-underrated-carry-guns
     Of those pistols listed, only the Masada is ambidextrous.  Being able to move the
magazine release to the other side of the pistol is not the same as ambidextrous.  
     Increasing the size or extending the magazine release or slide stop is not a good thing.  
As it increases the probability of inadvertently locking the slide or releasing the magazine.   
 
"Open Iron Sights vs. Reflex Sights: Which is Better?" by Richard Mann
https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/open-vs-reflex-sights/466558
Excerpt:  
     ". . . a lot of ammo and a shot timer was all I needed to discover the answer,
at least as far as it relates to me."  
[Ya, this is a very subject specific experiment. -- Jon Low]
 
"6 Dead Giveaways That You’re Armed" by Sam Hoober
https://www.usacarry.com/6-dead-giveaways-that-youre-armed/
Excerpt:  
     If you even have to [touch the gun and the holster to “make sure it’s still there” or adjust
the holster, so it’s more comfortable, concealable, etc.], . . .  you’re carrying with the wrong
gear.
 
"Thoughts on Revolver Reliability" by Darryl Bolke
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/thoughts-on-revolver-reliability
     In multi-day classes, I clean my pistols at the end of each day.  I arrived at the class with
clean pistols.  I always bring at least two, because things break.  
---
"Revolver Reliability- Part 2" by Darryl Bolke
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/revolver-reliability-part-2
---
Darryl's web site is
www.hardwiredtacticalshooting.com
But, I can't get it to come up.  
---
"My Revolver Stopped Revolving" by Chris Baker
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/revolver-stopped-revolving/
 
"Holster Retention Deep Dive – How To Test Retention (and How NOT to)"
by (no author listed)
https://www.phlsterholsters.com/retention-should-kydex-holsters-click/
Excerpts:  
     ". . . the shake test actually has nothing to do with the real-world performance
of the holster."  
[I disagree.  I think turning the holster upside down and shaking is a good and reasonable
test of holster retention. -- Jon Low]  
     ". . . it’s reasonable to expect to handle the holster for routine activities
(like . . ., bathroom breaks . . .) . . . "  
[I disagree.  You should never handle your pistol during a bathroom break.  Leave it in the
holster.  You should never handle your holster during a bathroom break.  Leave it on your
belt.  As John Farnam says, negligent discharges are often due to unnecessary gun handling.  
-- Jon Low]  
     [The author says you can rely on the pressure from your belt pressing the holster against
your body for retention.  I disagree.  You should not rely on that pressure for retention, as
it might not be there when needed.  Testing of emergency rescue equipment should always
be done in worst case situations, i.e. no pressure from your belt.  As when you turn the
holster upside down and shake it. -- Jon Low]  
 
     Have extra magazines for your pistols.  Clean your magazines.  This requires taking them
apart.  You can't clean them without taking them apart.  
     If you really can't take them apart because they are welded together.  Push the follower
down.  Stick a straightened paper clip through the holes on the side of the body to hold the
spring down.  Shake the follower out.  Release the spring and take it out of the body.  Spray
the inside with WD-40 and scrub with your cleaning brush (the one that looks like a tooth
brush, but is much stiffer).  And reassemble.  
     Oh, was the spring rusty?  cracked?  deformed?  You can order replacements.  
Brownells
https://www.brownells.com/
Numrich
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/
and others.  
 
For newbies.  
"CCW 101: All Major Types Of Pistol" by Sam Hoober
https://gundigest.com/handguns/ccw-101-all-major-types-of-pistol
Excerpt:  
     "Active safeties add a layer of complexity, as you must put in sufficient practice time to
be able to deactivate them reflexively as you draw.  This doesn’t mean that guns with a
manual safety are a bad choice, it’s just something to be aware of while browsing."  
     [The modern manual of arms for semi-auto pistols is to defeat the thumb safety after
drawing and to activate it immediately before holstering.  If your holster is acting as the
safety, this makes the thumb safety on the pistol superfluous.  So get a correct holster
and a pistol without a thumb safety.  
     Forgetting to defeat the thumb safety can be tragic.  So it is best not to have a thumb
safety. -- Jon Low]  
 
"How to Safely Store Your Gun In Your Car
If you must leave your firearm in your vehicle,
here's how to keep it out of the hands of thieves."
by NRA Staff
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-safely-store-your-gun-in-your-car/
     I'm not surprised no one was willing to put their name, as author, on this article.  
Leaving your pistol in your car is an act of criminal stupidity.  You are effectively
giving criminals lethal weapons.  
 
"How-To:  Winter Concealed-Carry
It may be easier to conceal this time of year,
but can you realistically unholster?" by Bryce M. Towsley
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-winter-concealed-carry/
 
"Concealing for Two:  The First Trimester of Pregnancy" by Tatiana Whitlock
https://www.womensoutdoornews.com/2022/10/concealing-for-two-the-first-trimester-of-pregnancy/
"Concealing for Two:  The Second Trimester" by Tatiana Whitlock
https://www.womensoutdoornews.com/2022/11/concealing-for-two-the-second-trimester/
 
"Using DCC Clips on the PHLster Enigma" by (no author listed)
https://www.phlsterholsters.com/using-dcc-clips-on-the-phlster-enigma/
 
"8 Best Light-Bearing Holsters for Concealed Carry" by Travis Pike
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-light-bearing-holsters/
     I think a weapon mounted light for civilian concealed carry is a bad idea, because you
will search with your weapon mounted light, which violates Safety Rule II.  
RULE II:  NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING
                 YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.  
     On the other hand, if you have a mission that requires a weapon mounted light, you
better know the best holster for your gear.  Required to open carry (private security,
armored car guard, uniformed police, etc.), need retention devices.  Required to carry
concealed, need thin profile.  Etc.  
 
"This is Why You Really Should Rotate Your Carry Gun Ammunition Regularly"
by John Boch
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/this-is-why-you-really-should-rotate-your-carry-gun-ammunition-regularly/
Excerpts:  
     Remember: ammo is (relatively) cheap. Life is precious.  
     A bad guy can usually cover that distance* far quicker than anyone can perform a
malfunction clearing drill.  
* "Personal Defense Tip: Practice The Tueller Drill [VIDEO]" by Roy Hill
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/self-defense-tip-do-the-tueller-drill/
 
“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
 
"Heroes!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/heroes-3/
Excerpt:  
     Woke, leftist Democrats hate heroes, because that is a distinction they themselves will
never stand tall enough to reach, and they know it!  
 
     "We just released our newest annual report on concealed handgun permits.  It shows that
despite 24 states currently having Constitutional Carry laws, the number of concealed carry
permits increased by another 488,000, a 2.3% increase.  Permits fell in Constitutional Carry
states even as they continued rising in the other states.  8.5% of Americans now have permits.
Women's share of permits has continued to rise, and they now make up 29.2% of permit
holders.  Fox News had a long article this week describing our work."  
-- John R. Lott
---
"Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2022" by John R. Lott
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4279137
---
"At Fox News:  
More Americans legally carrying guns despite slowest increase in CCW permits on record.  
Number of concealed carry weapon permits continues upward trend despite nearly half
of states enacting ‘constitutional carry’ laws."
https://crimeresearch.org/2022/11/at-fox-new-at-fox-news-more-americans-legally-carrying-guns-despite-slowest-increase-in-ccw-permits-on-record-number-of-concealed-carry-weapon-permits-continues-upward-trend-despite-nearly-half-of/
 
"EXCLUSIVE:
University Bans Conservative Student Group’s Pro-Gun Signs,
Security Escorts Regional Director Off Campus"
https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/30/university-nebraska-creighton-conservative-student-groups-pro-gun-signs-security-regional-director/
     “print guns, not money”
The Biden administration has made extensive use of quantitative easing (printing money) to
increase the money supply while also moving to restrict 3D-printed firearms.  
 
     I was in Jackson, Mississippi having dinner with some musicians.  We were discussing
the Million Dollar Quartet composed of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and
Carl Perkins --
"The Million Dollar Quartet [1956 - Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Carl Perkins & Johnny Cash]"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOorJPVc6_M
     Amazingly, this audio recording was uploaded to YouTube.com in July of this year, 2022.  
Notice the reference to Chuck Berry.  In those days the radio stations were segregated, like
everything else.  
 

 
     My sister pointed out to me that what I thought were pints of Häagen-Dazs® ice cream
are in fact 14 ounce containers.  Which I would have known if I had read the label.  
     I had a can of V8 vegetable juice.  My sister pointed out to me that it has way too much
salt.  I thought, how can 100% vegetable juice have salt?  I read the label and sure enough
"salt" is a listed ingredient.  So the labeling is false, it's not 100% vegetable juice.  
920 mg of Sodium.  Wow!  
 
"The Armed Citizen® November 11, 2022"
https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/content/the-armed-citizen-november-11-2022/
Excerpt:  
     “If I didn’t have my gun with me, everyone in the house would have died,” the
homeowner said.  “The news vans would’ve been front and center.  But because I did,
you never even heard about it,” he added.  
 
"This is Not a Test: When Your Life Depends on Your Defensive Training" by Samantha Mann
https://www.nrawomen.com/content/this-is-not-a-test-when-your-life-depends-on-your-defensive-training/
Excerpt:  
     My mind went instantly to panic.  There was a mantra repeating (not sure if it was out
loud or just in my head) that said, “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!” like a stuck record.  After just
a second, the mantra changed to, “What do I do?”  As soon as that question hit my brain,
I knew.  I retrieved my gun from the holster and asked Siri to call my husband, who was
asleep in bed just inside the house.  Luckily, he answered quickly and I told him the situation.  
[She made the important shift from panic to action.  Bravo!  -- Jon Low]  
 
"Tucker Carlson: This is a dangerous cult"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv181qM4AUM
     For 50 years, it was a Constitutional right to murder babies in our country.  
Now the woke have taken to mutilating children.  Satan is easy to recognize,
as are his helpers.  
 
"Decay!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/decay/
     [Jon Low's long and crazy rant deleted to avoid being canceled, arrested, and such.]  

"Hot Crazy Matrix A Man's Guide to Women - ORIGINAL" by James Yeager
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pInk1rV2VEg
     The guest speaker also gives a matrix for women considering men.  
 
"Joe Rogan eye opening speech SOFT MEN & HARD TIMES"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r0jp_z20rs
 
"Don’t Mess With Polk County, Florida! 😎"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjvxwdw8Pk
 
"You Can't Twist The Fabric of REALITY - Jordan Peterson"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2ullLqPJ8c
 
"FBI Leadership are SCUM"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVrZxqTFgmg
 
"HAMMER This Into YOUR HEART | Jordan Peterson"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2tG3UQ9yZA
 
"Advantages Of Doing Business In DUBAI" by Iman Gadzhi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q3UWev7l_w
 


 
"China’s Economy COLLAPSES! Leaked Footage Shows Riots spread"
by Stoic Finance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sclOU2o4kw
     I have never and will never buy Apple products.  Doing so supports the oppression of
humans in China.  You vote with your dollar.  Vote wisely.  

     When my cousin, Donna Jean, worked for Apple when they were first starting up, 
the guy who would make the runs to get everyone lunch, would also deliver cocaine to 
the employees.  Such is their culture. 
 
     May I recommend you see the movie "Devotion" (2022).  
Who financed this movie?  Frederick W. Smith,
https://mca-marines.org/blog/leatherneck/fedex-founder-frederick-w-smith/
 
     Front Sight went bankrupt.  PrairieFire bought the company.  I am investigating to
decide if I want to join the new organization.  All previous Front Sight memberships
were terminated by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.  So sad.  
 
"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]
 
"Does Consciousness Influence Quantum Effects?" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1wqUCATYUA
     Consciousness is used in a technical sense, not as defined in any scholarly dictionary.  
Most of quantum computing in the media is nonsense.  But this is actually correct, but
very subtle, so not easily understood.  (No, I'm serious.  If you think you understand at
first reading, you're probably wrong.)  Quantum computing is not a threat to our cryptology.  
But it is a threat.  
 
Good Evening Sir,
     Bottom Line Up Front:  using crypto currencies is criminal stupidity.  Snowden is a traitor.  
But truth is truth.  You might want to advise your clients to avoid using crypto currencies.  
Definitely advise them to avoid investing in crypto currencies, because that is just currency
speculation, which doesn't lead anywhere good.  Block chain is not mathematically correct.  
     May I invite your attention to
"Edward Snowden: Crypto Is Heading In The Wrong Direction"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFm1_UJtGlc
     Primary source,
"Edward Snowden Talks Tornado Cash Sanctions,
Ethereum Merge, DAOs and NFTs at Camp Decrypt 2022"
https://decrypt.co/videos/live-events/PEhewv2h/edward-snowden-talks-tornado-cash-sanctions-ethereum-merge-daos-and-nfts-at-camp-decrypt-2022
Semper Fidelis,
Spaceman
 
"SysVinit vs Systemd" by DJ Ware
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz8Ldw-s8_Q
     PID is Process ID (identifier).  NFS is Network File System.  
sudo is "superuser do", used to run programs as another user.  
"System V" as in SUN Microsystems System V (their proprietary version of UNIX).  
When he pronounces "et - see", he is referring to
/etc/
subdirector under the root directory.  
Yes, he does use the non-existent word "architected" instead of "designed",
so we know his persuasion.  
Systemd responds to events.  
Systemd should not run as root (super user).  
BSD is Berkley System Distribution, the University of California at Berkley version of UNIX.  
Systemd has real security problems.  Yes, you can . . .
 
     I got an email from Prof. Michael A. Morrison,
David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus, University of Oklahoma
Affiliate Professor, Colorado State University.  
He tells me that he has not published "The Joy of Quantum Physics" nor
"Effective Scientific Writing" due to illness after his retirement from the
University of Oklahoma.  So, the web sites claiming to have copies of his
books are frauds.  He will contact me when the books are ready for
distribution or publication.  Please be patient.  
 
"The Untold Unix Story" by DJ Ware
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oU6zEZafnQ
Excerpt:  
     "You are not expected to understand this." -- Dennis Ritchie
 
"To Understand the Fourier Transform, Start From Quantum Mechanics" by Elliot Schneider
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8QZ-yxebFA
Notes at
https://www.physicswithelliot.com/fourier-mini-notes
     The Fourier Transform, Discrete Fourier Transform, Fast Fourier Transform are useful
for your cryptosystem.  You should master their use.  Which requires understanding them.  
 
"Existential physics: answering life's biggest questions - with Sabine Hossenfelder"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl9oDJzfg58
     Do you see how you can use this in your cryptosystem? to create your cryptosystem?  
 
"Elon Exposes This Tesla Employee Who Leaked Confidential Data🤫"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z_sEtFNp2A
     Can you believe the leaker was that stupid?  To forward the original copy of an email.  
I have been using embedded non-printing characters in my emails to my children for
decades.  
     Need to get rid of all of the hidden embedded stuff in the text?  Copy and paste to
Microsoft Notepad or any UNIX editor, and then copy from the editor and paste to
your target.   
 
"Chris Tarbell: FBI Agent Who Took Down Silk Road | Lex Fridman Podcast #340 "
by Lex Fridman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KiO8GRgwDk
Excerpt:  
"FBI agent: We don't catch the smart criminals" by Lex Fridman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aykCDrtWACo
     Do you understand?  
This is effectively an intel report on the level of sophistication of the FBI with regards
to their cyber warfare capabilities.  They are nowhere near their enemies.  They are
nowhere near us.  
     Unable to grow their computer competence in house, the FBI had attempted to recruit
young computer nerds and had even attempted to lower their standards to get the
disgusting fat bodies who lived in their parent's basements.  Why would anyone think
that persons who do not take pride in their bodies would take pride in their code?  
All of the hard core software engineers / cyber warriors that I know are physically fit,
because they understand how that affects their thinking / coding and judgment.  
     You want to see what real cyber warriors look like?  Check out this photo,
https://layer8security.com/colonel-jeffrey-jpl-lipson-retires-from-us-marine-corps/
I worked for the then-Major at MAG-49 in Willow Grove, PA.  (A lot of units no
longer exist.)  These are the guys to call, not the FBI.  
 
"Fiber optics take the pulse of the planet" by Carolyn Wilke
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/technology/2022/fiber-optics-take-pulse-planet
---
"Fiber-Optic Seismology" by Nathaniel J. Lindsey and Eileen R. Martin
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-earth-072420-065213
---
     I remember when I was working at Applied Signals Technology
in Sunnyvale, California, we cut notches in fiber optic lines to tap
the signal without the sender or receiver being aware.  It was quite an
art back then.  I guess anyone can do it now days.  
 
     "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.)
 
     When I was a grad student at University of California Santa Cruz in Computer Science,
one of our projects was to place monitors on the internet backbones.  One of our results
was that about 15% of emails never get delivered.  If a message indicating that the email
was not delivered was sent or received, that didn't count.  The 15% refers to emails that
just disappear without any indication that they were not received.  
     Similarly, it is very easy to set up an automatic response to emails from specified sources
that says that the email bounced, was not delivered.  When in fact it was delivered.  
     Just thought you'd like to know.  
 
"Ukraine War: Why is the Wagner group fighting for Bakhmut?" by Sky News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8UbBmb0Eg
     Do you remember the movie "The Dirty Dozen" that the professor refers to?  
Not twelve, 20,000.  
     Our enemies in the U.S. government destroyed Blackwater.  But many others exist.  
 
     President Biden's enemies attempted to kill him by firebombing his motorcade in
Nantucket, Massachusetts.  If they had set the car bombs on timers it would have worked.  
But they got fancy because they wanted a command detonation.  The electronic warfare
counter measures prematurely detonated the bombs.  (Great video on YouTube.com.  
All of the cars were bombed, because they couldn't be sure which one the POTUS would
be in.  Redundancy is a good thing.)  
     If you think that you are in control of the electronics and electro-magnetic radiation,
you're probably wrong.  People who think they know everything irritate those of us who do.  
     The bombs were in the Hertz rental cars before the Secret Service picked them up.  
(Do you understand that magic trick?)  Why didn't the Secret Service check the cars?  
(Do you understand that magic trick?)  You want the magic trick done before anyone
knows that you've started.  
     "I might have been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name."
-- Bobbie Gentry (Roberta Lee Streeter)
     I was in Mississippi last week and walked across the Tallahatchie bridge.  
 
Excerpt from "Practical Eschatology", "The Docent's Memo (December 5, 2022)",
"News & Analysis:" by Docent at
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
     "I had seen an article about a relatively wide-spread power outage in Moore County,
North Carolina, after unknown persons had shot up a power sub-station, but it was not
until I saw this post from Western Rifle Shooters that the event was put into context.  
The incident occurred just before the beginning of a drag show that was deeply
unpopular with locals (but supported by the command officers at Fort Bragg, of course).  
[Fort Bragg is Army, nuff said. -- Jon Low]
Legal methods to stop the show didn't work, but it was cancelled after the power went out.  
Mission accomplished." 
     The article referred to in the blog post,
https://westernrifleshooters.us/2022/12/04/but-but-what-about-the-drag-show/
 
Human Intelligence (HUMINT) is the collection of information from human sources.  
Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) refers to electronic transmissions.  
Imagery Intelligence (IMINT) is sometimes also referred to as photo intelligence (PHOTINT).  
Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) is the analysis of aerial and satellites photos.  
Measurement and Signatures Intelligence (MASINT) concerns weapons capabilities and
industrial activities.  
Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT) is data leaked by weapons during tests.  
Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) is electronic emissions from weapons and tracking systems.   
(Also the power surges of the AC power lines which revealed to us which key on an IBM
Selectric typewriter was being pressed.  We only used an oscilloscope, nothing fancy.)  
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) anything generally available.  (Like this blog.)  Lots of
classified stuff shows up in OSINT.  You just have to recognize it.  
     Citation:  U.S. Naval War College
https://usnwc.libguides.com/c.php?g=494120&p=3381426
 
"TOP Space YouTubers Answer Your Questions | Q&A 200" by Fraser Cain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNGEXWZsTmY
Check out
24:10 [Dylan O'Donnell] How to democratize astronomy?
 
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
 
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     "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
                                                                               Tux