Greetings Sheepdogs,
Declaration of Independence (original)
Declaration of Independence (transcript)
"Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, (reading of the full text)"
by Light Over Heat with Professor David Yamane
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Table of Contents:
Prevention
Mindset
Situational Awareness
Safety
Training
Practice
Intervention
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
Postvention
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
Education
Legal
Instruction
Gear
Cryptology
Signals Intelligence
Intelligence
Religion and Politics
Psychology
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
Things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of sections:
Mindset
Safety
Training
Practice
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset and Attitude -----
Figuring out the correct way to think.
"All that we don't know is astonishing.
Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing."
-- Philip Roth
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, Escape
“Happiness is the by-product of achievement” -- Jeff Cooper
"STATISTICALLY SPEAKING" by Gabe Suarez
Nothing is free. Anything you habitually do, or believe, becomes a part of you
and a part of your thought process. What are you programming through habitual
practice?
The last few years I have seen a segment of the training world get into bed with
statistics.
A "typical gunfight will be three rounds, in three seconds at three yards".
Then they build up training around that. Well let me break it to you statistic
based instructor, for what you just said, "will most likely happen", they don't need
a Glock, nor an extra magazine, and they sure as hell don't need you or your over
priced class. (Insert gasping emoji here).
I have been blessed with a large number of critical incidents. I thoroughly
appreciated each and everyone. And each was totally different from the others.
As well, my students tend to be meat eater types and they have also faced the
mythical elephant now and again. Those that report back tell me the same.
Each gunfight, like each girl you date, will be a different experience. You cannot
predict anything statistically unless you are looking at a very small demographic . . .
like redheads . . . or like night shift gas station cashiers.
For example, an analysis of ghetto liquor store owners using a weapon for
self defense will not be the same as what a home owner in Beverly Hills will
see when a three man team of Hoover Crips kicks in his door at zero dark thirty.
And that will be totally different from the Bounty Hunter who is fired upon
from 20 yards in a parking lot by his quarry, as well as for the next Eli Dickens
who happens to receive Churchill's tap when shopping with his girl.
If we are really looking at statistics as a guiding tool for self defense the vast
majority of gun people should sell their Model 13 revolvers and join a gym as
from my perspective they are in more danger from metabolic disease than from
Meth-head Mike and his sharpened screwdriver.
Even the exalted FBI report is still a report of failures. Of officers who had
few skills in the reactive realm of gun fighting and were more often than not,
taken by surprise.
Statistics are interesting . . . but only as a point of conversation. The wise man
will train to be adaptable so that his skill sets are at the very least applicable across
a vast spectrum of distances, initiatives, numbers of adversaries, etc.
The man who expects the best will die without even knowing it, if he gets the
worst. But the other side of that is that the man who expects the worst dynamics
of conflict, and is prepared, will have such an easy time of it that he will be
disappointed . . . and feel cheated.
Yes it takes time. Yes it takes focus and effort. Yes you must go to the gym . . .
and the range . . . and dry practice . . . and get the best gear you can afford.
And at the end of the day, because of the investment you have made, you will
be stronger, healthier and more deadly.
And when you catch that faint whiff of La Corona smoke in the air and feel
Churchill's tap, on your shoulder, and look, and see the adversary the universe
has put in your path - whether he is three yards away or thirty - and whether he
is a meth hound or an ISIS tango - you will smile, thank your god for the
challenge, and change history.
That kids is my POV (point of view) and what my tribe and I train for.
-- Gabe Suarez
"Superior judgment trumps superior skills." -- Dan Millican
"More on AI" by John Farnam
"Be so focused on watering your grass that
you don't have time to check if someone else's is greener."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"Final comments on AI" by John Farnam
‟We don’t decide what is necessary to survive a
lethal force encounter initiated by someone else.
That person decides what’s necessary for us to survive.”
– William Aprill
"The line between everyday life and sudden violence is thinner than most realize."
-- Tim Larkin
"Be Hard to Kill – It Starts with the Mind" by Fred Mastison
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpts:
"If you ever find yourself saying,
“I can’t believe someone would do that,”
then you have not come to terms with reality."
"So, ask yourself how far you would go, and then sincerely answer yourself."
---
“Violence is the gold standard, the reserve that guarantees order.
In actuality, it is better than a gold standard because violence has universal value.
Violence transcends the quirks of philosophy, religion, technology, and culture.
(…)
It’s time to quit worrying and learn to love the battle axe.
History teaches us that if we don’t, someone else will.”
– Jack Donovan
"I do not carry a pistol so that I may impose my will on others.
I carry a pistol so that others may not impose their will on me."
-- Tom Givens
"Trash!" by John Farnam
“Without its tough spearmen, Hellenic culture would have had nothing to
give the world, because it would not have lasted long enough. When Greek
culture became so sophisticated that its common men would no longer fight
to the death, as their fathers had at Thermopylae, but became devious and
‘clever,’ a horde of Roman farm boys overran them.”
-- TR Fehrenbach
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
Randy Harris's Post of
The “Duel at the Dumpster “ that Claude Werner has written about.
---
I remember my father telling me, "You can always walk away."
"Your gunfights will always be anomalies.
So are those of all the instructors you venerate.
It’s useful to keep those facts in mind."
-- Greg Ellifritz
“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.
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.
Harmless just means you’re ineffectual and useless.”
-- Jordan Peterson
"Your life is as good as your mindset." -- Nicola Cavanis
‷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
"Have your affairs in order."
-- John Hearne
***** Situational Awareness *****
How to avoid being taken by surprise.
"Many people don't realize that your awareness skills
are more important than your marksmanship skills.
Well, you can't shoot something you don't know is there,
or don't know it needs to be shot!" -- Tom Givens
"Jeff Cooper's Color Code exists to help you get your head
around the need to kill someone in the immediate future."
-- John Hearne
---
Jeff Cooper's Color Code of Mental Awareness
UNAWARE - of what's going on around you. (White)
AWARE - of who is around you and what they are doing. (Yellow)
ALERT - to a POTENTIAL threat and taking action to avoid the threat. (Orange)
ALARM - by a REAL threat and taking action to escape the threat,
which might include shooting to PREVENT the attack. (Red)
COMBAT - front sight, press. Shooting to STOP the attack. (Black)
*************************************************************************
----- Safety -----
How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.
How to prevent unauthorized persons from using your guns.
"The Zebra Story" by Jordan Peterson
"You are not responsible for negative reactions to your boundaries."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"Be nice. It's okay to be nice." -- Tim Larkin
"The Difference Between Being Right and Being Safe" by Tim Larkin
"Superior judgment trumps superior skills." -- Dan Millican
"Gut feelings are guardian angels." -- Nicola Cavanis
Jeff Cooper′s Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING
THAT 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.
---
RULE V: Maintain control of your gun. -- Stephen P. Wenger
"A Security Expert’s 3 Must-Know Safety Tips (You’re Probably Ignoring #2!)"
by The Security Consultant
Leave large men's boots by front door.
Always know who is around you and what they are doing.
"It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."
-- Claude Werner
Always lots of good stuff here.
If you chase a guy for a block and then shoot him, you can't claim self-defense.
---
Defendant to his attorney: I can't believe I'm being prosecuted! It was self-defense!
Attorney to his client (the defendant): < Spending the next two hours explaining to
his client why what the client did was not self-defense. Because the client is ignorant
and doesn't know what self-defense is. Oh, the client thinks he knows what self-defense
is because of all the movies and TV shows that he has watched in his life time. But,
none of that is real. >
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places.
Don’t associate with stupid people.
Don’t do stupid things.
Have a “normal” appearance.
Be in bed by 10:00 PM (your own bed).
Don’t fail the attitude test.
*************************************************************************
----- Training -----
Figuring out the correct tasks to practice.
"I don't call it violence when it's in self-defense; I call it intelligence." -- Malcolm X
"Joining The One Percent
Taking even a basic firearm-instruction class is a rare thing indeed.
Get training." by Karl Rehn
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpts:
"Dry fire at home before you go to the range, or at the range before you start
your live fire drills. Ten minutes spent dry firing will significantly improve your
live-fire performance. Most misses are the result of moving the gun as the trigger
is pressed. Dry firing shows you gun movement that is missed in the blinking,
noise, and recoil of live fire."
"Learn three shooting speeds: quickly (3 to 5 yards), carefully (7 to 10 yards)
and precisely (15 yards and farther). The time it takes you to bring the gun up
and fire five shots should speed up for close targets and slow down for far targets."
"There are three different areas, or disciplines, in which the armed person must train.
These are mindset, gun handling, and marksmanship. Each is equally important, and
you must be at least competent in all three areas."
-- Tom Givens
"Bullets Follow Walls – Explained" by Travis Pike
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
When a bullet hits a wall, most of the momentum perpendicular to the wall is absorbed
by the wall and the soft lead bullet. Most of the momentum parallel to the wall is retained
by the bullet. So bullets that ricochet, do so at a small angle from the wall.
Of course, some bullets don't ricochet, because they are absorbed by the wall.
Or, they fragment and the fragments ricochet, again at a small angle from the wall.
Yes, momentum is conserved, but it's sometimes hard to see, as none of the objects
are elastic.
"If you’re not measuring your training,
what you’re doing is called playing."
-- Chris Sajnog
---
"In order to measure, we must be able to quantify."
-- Aaron Cowan
"Training for Untrained Performance?" by Dustin Salomon
Excerpts:
"One of the things that is conspicuously absent from the majority (if not all)
of the publicly available scientific literature and data sets regarding gunfight
performance is an accompanying analysis of how each individual involved was
trained."
"By nature of reporting requirements and collection methods, the data
contained in these reports is biased towards engagements where the officer
either lost the fight or was substantially injured in the process."
". . . the bulk of data contained in the commonly cited large-scale gunfight
performance data sets is taken from gunfights that were lost—or at least that
nobody would choose to replicate . . ."
"Vocational training models assume that a student’s eventual mastery of
the subject will be acquired during on-the-job performance. Unfortunately,
this assumption catastrophically fails for firearms skills.
Firearms simply are not used enough in the real-world for these skills to
be acquired, much less mastered, on the job."
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)
"Training with the NURO from Building Shooters" by Defenders And Disciples
Excerpt:
In the context of the police training officer saying,
"I can't do this. So I can't expect my recruits to do this."
“Isn't that what you expect your police officers to do? Do you hear yourself?”
---
I did this training. It demonstrates to you how much your gun, hands, and arms
block your field of view. You can't see the enemy's hands or waist line.
This training demonstrates to you how long it takes you to stop shooting after
the bad guy has dropped his gun and put his hands up, or turned his back to you
and started running away. As stated in the video, the only way you can avoid
shooting after the threat ends, is to stop shooting before the threat ends,
that is, to stop shooting while the bad guy is still a threat. Stop and think about that.
That is why you must have an expert witness to explain this to the jury. Which is
why you must have a good self-defense insurance policy that actually pays (Some
won't pay. They will make excuses and they won't pay.). Expert witnesses will
cost you $5000 per day, plus round trip air fare, hotel, rental car, and per diem.
And you'll pay, because you're scared to death of going to prison for the rest of
your life.
Notice that the shooter's shoulders are hunched up high. Lots of muscle tension.
This makes for lots of muscle tension throughout the whole body. Tense muscles
are slow muscles. Relaxed muscles are quick muslces. How was he able to stop
shooting when the threat ended? Because he was shooting so slowly, because his
muscles were tense.
Training to avoid sympathetic response is essential. Stephen P. Wenger talks
about "chain fire", where one police officer starts shooting, causing all of the other
police officers to start shooting (even when they don't know what they should be
shooting at, even when they don't know if they are justified to shoot in the first
place).
"When you're training to protect yourself and others, speed always comes last.
In the more than twenty-five years I've been training people in self-protection,
I've never heard from someone who used self-protection tools in the field and
felt like they suffered from a lack of speed at the moment of truth. In fact, I
usually hear the opposite: it's much more common to suffer from a lack of
accuracy or force." -- Tim Larkin
"A mistake that makes you humble is better
than an achievement that makes you arrogant."
-- Nicola Cavanis
From an email from Tim Larkin --
Your kid can solve 5 x 7 = 35 in seconds . . .
But imagine if instead of learning multiplication, they had to memorize
THOUSANDS of individual equations:
5 x 57 = 285
78 x 96 = 7,488
12 x 48 = 576
When faced with 52 x 68, they'd be completely lost because they never learned
how multiplication actually WORKS.
This is EXACTLY why 97% of self-defense training FAILS when you need it most.
Most martial arts force you to memorize hundreds of specific techniques:
"This wrist lock works when grabbed exactly this way"
"That armbar works from this precise stance"
"This shoulder lock works against this specific angle"
But real predators don't attack according to your training script . . .
When that terrifying moment arrives and your family's lives depend on your
response, cycling through memorized methods becomes impossible - and the
consequences are unthinkable.
I've watched highly-trained martial artists freeze in simulated attacks because
what they memorized didn't match the reality they faced.
What if instead of memorizing hundreds of individual techniques,
you understood the simple underlying principle that governs ALL effective
self-defense?
Stay Safe,
Tim Larkin
P.S. This knowledge can only protect you if you have it BEFORE you need it.
“Training deals not with an object,
but with the human spirit and human emotions.”
--Bruce Lee
"Randomizing Training" by Matt Little
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
“I am always doing that which I cannot do in order that I may learn how to do it.”
— Pablo Picasso
"block training"
"combination work"
"interleaving training"
"Hanging on to something because it got us to a certain skill level
even though it has since become a limiting factor is so easy to do,
and so difficult to avoid."
"randomize my combination work"
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always
possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Richard Henry Lee
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
"Competition and Combat Redux" by Matt Little
“War means fighting, and fighting means killing.”
― Nathan Bedford Forrest
". . . asserting that the ability to shoot at a high level alone will guarantee victory
in a gunfight is as patently false a statement as telling an aspiring boxer that hitting
the heavy bag at a high level will guarantee success in the ring."
“It may seem difficult at first but everything is difficult at first.”
-- Miyamota Mushashi
From an email from Tim Larkin --
The most dangerous assumption you can make about violence . . .
I just released a disturbing analysis of security footage that's been circulating online.
It shows two men facing off on a subway platform in Philadelphia.
One clearly has every physical advantage — he's at least 6 inches taller and
50 pounds heavier than the other man.
What happens next defies what most people believe about physical confrontations.
In less than 10 seconds . . . everything changes. Permanently.
I refused to post this footage for months because of how disturbing the outcome is.
But I finally decided to break it down because it demonstrates a truth most
self-defense "experts" never talk about:
Once physical violence begins, you have ZERO control over where it ends.
No matter your intentions . . .
No matter your size advantage . . .
No matter your fighting experience . . .
The unpredictability factor is why I've spent 30+ years teaching people to avoid
unnecessary confrontations at all costs.
Because reality isn't like the movies where people walk away with a bloody nose
and bruised ego.
Real violence has permanent consequences that no one — not even trained
professionals — can fully predict or control.
This video reveals exactly why confidence based solely on size, strength,
or even training can be fatal — and what you must understand instead.
Stay Safe,
Tim Larkin
P.S. This video reveals what most instructors hide . . .
[I disagree with Mr. Larkin's analysis of the video. There was a huge disparity of
force, which justified the smaller man's punch. If the bigger man lost his balance and
fell onto the train tracks, that's his fault. He started the fight by pinning the smaller
man against the column and threatening to strike the smaller man. -- Jon Low]
"We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution
was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists."
-- Patrick Henry
This article and the rebuttal is important on many levels.
"Red Dots – Are We Training to Use Them Best?" by Det/Sgt Jeff Johnsgaard
---
A Rebuttal to Johnsgaard and “Red Dots – Are We Training to Use Them Best?”
by Dustin Salomon
---
"Fake Evidence Rebuttal" by Dustin Salomon
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"You think you can multitask? Think again!" by Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D.
“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
"LE Firearms Training" [LE = Law Enforcement] by guest writer
Excerpts:
"Demonstrating for students accomplishes several things. It proves that you
can do what you are teaching. It shows them how to do it. And if you are teaching
you should be able to demonstrate it well, so it shows students the art of the possible."
"Suggestion: Demonstrate for your students! Show them what you want them
to do, and show them that it can be done near-perfectly."
"Suggestion: read books, follow blogs written by SMEs, train with industry
experts outside of your normal thought-circle."
"Suggestion: give a comprehensive safety brief at the beginning of each and
every range session. No ifs, ands, or buts, no matter if “everyone” has heard it
a million times (because someone, guaranteed, has heard it zero times). Also,
keep a first-aid kit on the range in a consistent, conspicuous location. Ensure it
is stocked sufficiently to treat gunshot wounds."
"Suggestion: build strong safety habits by extending loaded firearms rules
to blue guns. Obviously, this rule is bent during training scenarios, but it
shouldn’t be completely broken with students twirling guns on their fingers
(true story) and drawing down on each other when bored."
"Suggestion: get maximum training value out of blue guns by training
students how to draw and grip the gun before they are figuring it out in the
middle of scenario . . . and reinforcing bad habits."
"Suggestion: train outside of law enforcement circles. Darryl Bolke,
Tim Chandler, Greg Ellifritz, Steve Fisher, Tom Givens, Rob & Matt Haught
all offer outstanding, modern shotgun instruction!"
"Safe gun handling and knowing how to operate the gun competently is one thing.
How to fight with the gun is a whole other plane of knowledge."
-- Tiger McKee
"Home Invasion: the Coker Family Incident" by Massad Ayoob
---
Massad Ayoob details an account of a worst case scenario home invasion that
involved three attackers, two defenders, at least three guns being fired, life
threatening physical attacks on both victims, a heart shot that didn’t work,
a head shot that didn’t penetrate, and a partner rescue scenario where the
severely injured wife had to shoot the bad guy while her husband was holding
him in a headlock.
The more of theses scenarios I read about and experience at work, the more
I recognize the value of training to stay calm in absolutely chaotic situations.
All the shooting training in the world wouldn’t prepare most people for this event.
An attack like this requires adaptability and transcendence of chaos more than
any single skill set.
-- Greg Ellifritz
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
------------------------------ Conferences --------------------------------
Attending classes and conferences is required for continuous growth.
Stagnation is complacency. Complacency kills.
"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword;
because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force
superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense,
raised in the United States."
-- Noah Webster
The Gathering is a Firearm Range Day and Expo presented by Palmetto State Armory
that brings together the firearms community and the public to showcase new and existing
products from some of the biggest names in the industry. The Gathering will take place
March 21st – 22nd in Clinton, SC at
The Clinton House Plantation.
The Clinton House Plantation features nearly 2000 acres of diverse terrain with
3 clay courses,
17 shooting bays,
a 1000-yard range, and
a mile range.
The Clinton House is conveniently located just 5 minutes off I-26 in Clinton, SC
and is very close to lodging for guests.
7th Annual Security Operations Summit (SOS.25)!
July 24-26, 2025 San Antonio, TX
This year's national summit will be in San Antonio, TX at Cornerstone Church.
Law of Self Defense, live online class upcoming dates
September 27, 2025
Bullets & Bibles Conference, $750
Early Bird Discount Is Extended Through March 31, $650.00
Friday, September 12, 2025 – Sunday, September 14, 2025
Living Water Ranch, north of Manhattan, KS.
For more information about lodging (free lodging in the dorms) on site or
meals (3 meals a day included in registration fee) or
if you have any questions regarding the event,
contact our Bullets & Bibles Conference Coordinator,
Vonda Copeland
director@fhftc.org
or call 785-293-2449.
Rangemaster Tactical Conference
??? 2026 A.D.
Guardian Conference, $800
September 19th - 21st, 2025 in Oklahoma City
------------------------------ Classes --------------------------------
Attending classes and conferences is required for continuous growth.
Stagnation is complacency. Complacency kills.
Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Map of Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Dustin Salomon
KR Training
Kari Grayson
Citizens Safety Academy
Carry Trainer, Mickey Schuch
Paladin Training, Inc.
Virginia Private Firearms Training, John Murphy
Defensive Training International, John Farnam
Rangemaster, Tom Givens
Trident Concepts, Jeff Gonzales
Apache Solutions, Tim Kelly
Harris Combative Strategies, Randy Harris
Mead Hall Range & Tactics
Two Pillars Training, John Hearne
Mike Seeklander
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
----- Practice -----
How to get proficient at that task.
"Remember, growing may feel like breaking at first."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"Train Like a S.E.A.L. (Safe Effective Ammoless Learning)"
by Chris Sajnog
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Superior judgment trumps superior skills." -- Dan Millican
"Be stronger than your strongest excuse."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"People rust faster than equipment."
-- John Hearne
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
‟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
"Your speed doesn't matter. Forward is forward."
-- Nicola Cavanis
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
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant 1960-1963
"Remember, the day you plant the seed is not the day you earn the fruit."
-- Nicola Cavanis
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
Table of sections:
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy -----
Deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tools to use,
which tactics to use, which always includes walking away.
"Never let fear decide your fate." -- Nicola Cavanis
"Choosing A Home Defense Weapon" by Richard A. Mann
Excerpt:
"Skill at arms will always trump equipment."
---
Your home defense weapon should be whichever weapon you practice with the most,
whichever weapon you are most competent with, which ever weapon you are most
familiar with.
Spending hundreds of hours training with your pistol, only to grab your shotgun
(that you haven't touched in years) when you hear glass shattering in the middle of
the night down the hall, doesn't make sense. Do you even remember how to operate
the light on the shotgun?
I have shot slugs accurately out to 100 yards. Which means unless you have a
brick or concrete wall to stop the slug, you've got overpenetration problems.
Any long gun requires two hands to operate. You probably won't have two hands
available. As Mr. Mann says, you've got lots of other things to do. Also, one of your
hands may suffer a wound. If you've practiced, you can handle a handgun with one
hand.
Even if you "live alone and never have young or old visitors because no one likes you."
You can still have little 3 and 4 year old girls wandering around your apartment.
My downstairs neighbor did not have a washer and drier, so I gave her my key so she
could use mine. One day I return home to see her 3 year old niece wandering around
my apartment. She had brought her niece with her to do laundry.
John Murphy tells the story of when he was sharing an apartment with another Marine
and he had left for work. The other Marine had closed the front door, but did not slam it
hard enough to ensure it locked. A 4 year old girl was wandering around the apartment
complex and pushed on their front door. It opened, so she walked in. Fortunately, her
mother found her and took her home.
NEVER leave unlocked guns in your home!
If you're going to have a weapon mounted light on your home defense pistol,
you must take a class on how to use it. There are all kinds of subtlies and nuanced
thing you must know. Do you know how to splash light off of reflective surfaces
to allow you to see an area without blinding yourself? Do you know how to move
your light to create the illusion that there are many of you?
-- Jon Low
“How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.”
-- John Farnam
"Having a gun is important.
But knowing WHEN to use it is even more important."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
“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.)
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, U.S. Navy
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics -----
Maneuver and fire in support of your strategy.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
"Illustrated: The Ballistics of Contact Gunshot Wounds" by Jim Maybrick
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
There are three categories of ballistics. Internal ballistics is the study of a cartridge
before the [bullet] leaves the muzzle. External ballistics is the study of a [bullet] as it
makes its way to the target. Terminal ballistics covers how a [bullet] interacts with
the intended target.
---
The author is right. Contact shots do more damage. One death investigation class
I took in my police career stressed that the hot gasses escaping the muzzle at contact
distance generally increased tissue damage by 50%.
Yes, contact shots work well, but there is some nuance that most people don’t
understand. In almost every case, shoving the gun into your attacker’s body makes
you very prone to being disarmed. I’d rather keep my gun in a tight retention position
than extend it away from my body to make the contact shot. I’ll accept a smaller
bullet hole if it keeps the attacker from taking my gun.
-- Greg Ellifritz
“People shoot you because they see you.
They see you because you let them.
Don’t let them see you.”
-- Clint Smith
Before my dog died, I always carried pepper spray when I walked her.
Loose aggressive dogs don’t often attack adult humans, but they will attack
other dogs. I’d rather pepper spray the attacking dog than shoot it if it is
fighting with my own dog. The idea of shooting while trying to hold on to
a dog leash in a situation like this seems quite difficult. Pepper spray for the win.
Interestingly enough, during the two serious dog attacks in which I was
able to intervene (one at my cop job and one who attacked a woman walking
her own dog on the sidewalk outside my house), I used an expandable baton.
In one case, just opening the baton ran the dog off. In the other, I had to strike
one of the two dogs that were attacking a jogger. After one baton strike,
both those dogs ran away.
-- Greg Ellifritz
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Without discrimination,
you're going to shoot the wrong person really fast."
-- Paul Howe
"You brought a gun to the fight. That doesn’t mean it’s YOUR gun.
The gun belongs to whomever can keep it. Think about that before intervening
in other folks’ problems. When is the last time you practiced your in-hand
weapon retention skills?"
-- Greg Ellifritz
---
". . . if the assailant has a gun, it may actually be the easiest gun for you to access,
if you know how to take it from him."
-- Stephen P. Wenger
---
When was last time you practiced your in-holster weapon retention skills?
Have you taken a class to learn such techniques?
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
"You often don't know where the bad guy is who is shooting at you."
-- Phillip Groff
“When you’re in the dark, stay in the dark;
when you’re in the light, light up the dark.”
-- Stephen P. Wenger
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques -----
Ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress.
"Grip first, then press."
-- Mike Seeklander
"It’s NOT your Trigger Control" by Mike Seeklander
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Daily Defense Season 2 - EP 14: Developing a Smooth, Steady Trigger Pull"
by Jeff L. Gonzales
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Sinister Manipulations – Pistols" by Erick Gelhaus
---
I, Jon Low, buy ambidextrous pistols for my students to use.
Because, being right handed doesn't mean you're going to be right handed
in combat. And because left-handers should have pistols that work correctly
for them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following are truly ambidextrous --
Springfield Armory, XDM Elite
Striker action. ~$653 MSRP.
FN (Fabrique Nationale Herstal), 509 and others
Double action / single action. MSRP: $719.00.
The H&K (Heckler & Koch), VP9
Striker action. Retails for around $600.00.
Ruger, American
Striker action. MSRP:$669.00.
Global Ordnance, Arex Delta Generation 2M
Striker action. MSRP $535.
IWI (Israeli Weapon Industries), MASADA
Standard version,
Tactical version,
Striker action. MSRP $480.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following has an ambidextrous magazine release,
but not an ambidextrous slide stop --
The Springfield Armory XD type pistols.
Striker action. MSRP $440 - $568.
Louis Awerbuck recommended the XD in 45 ACP. That's why I use it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following have ambidextrous slide stops, but not ambidextrous
magazine releases --
(being able to move the magazine release to the other side is not
the same as being ambidextrous)
The Generation 5 Glocks. ~$600 to $700. Striker action.
The latest Walthers. MSRP: $649. Striker action.
The S&W M&P's. MSRP: $ 665. Striker action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Denn jedes Mal, wenn was geht, ist Platz für Neues.
Und wenn es gestern nicht sein soll, dann klappt es heut 🦋"
-- Nicola Cavanis
"The Press-Out (Part 1)" by SLG
"The Press-Out (Part 2)" by SLG
"The Press-Out (Part 3)" by SLG
A technique for those whom the instructor does not expect to practice.
Yes, it's important to teach to those persons, too.
"The foundations of your grip are established
before you even draw the pistol from the holster."
-- Tanner Denton
"Mastering your Handheld Light | Centrifuge Training" by Modlite Systems
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Modified FBI
Temple index
Harries technique
Reverse Harries [I don't like this one. -- Jon Low]
---
Note that the instructor is turning the Weapon Mounted Light (WML) on and
off with the support side thumb, NOT the firing side trigger finger.
Beware of Task Overload Confusion. Take Chuck Haggard's class for details.
If you attempt to use the trigger finger in high stress situations, you'll fire the
pistol when attempting to turn the light on or off. No, really, you will. Lots
of documented cases.
---
Notice how the smoke from the pistol and the reflection of light off the smoke
obscures vision. Indoors, it's much worse. Even on a well ventilated indoor range
at the Guardian Conference, it was very difficult.
---
The commentator is correct, you must be able to change out the batteries if
your flashlight gets weak. You can change out rechargeable batteries. You can't
change out batteries if your flashlight doesn't take batteries. Some flashlights
have to be plugged into a charger to be recharged, no batteries.
---
All of the participants are wearing lights so the instructors know where everyone
is. I prefer everyone wear reflective vests. Real vests like the kind required by
Department of Transportation for flag men. No electronics, no batteries. Simple
is cheaper and more reliable.
---
Rather than the "Reverse Harries" shown in the video, I would recommend
trapping the flashlight in the firing-side armpit, transferring the pistol into the
support-side hand, acquiring the flashlight with the firing-side hand, and using
a support-side handed position. Ya, it's going to take time and operations, but
I think it would be worth it to minimize exposure to enemy fire.
In combat, everyone is moving and bumping into things (and people). I would
be concerned about shooting my support-side hand holding the flashlight, if I were
using the "Reverse Harries" as described in the video.
“What’s the number one reason for reloading?
Missing the target!”
-- Claude Werner
"The Elbow Strike Nobody Saw Coming (Until It Was Too Late)" by Tim Larkin
Excerpts:
Close-quarters combat presents unique challenges, but this footage demonstrates
how proper body mechanics can generate fight-ending power even in confined spaces.
The technical execution was flawless - the aftermath was anything but.
What makes this video particularly valuable is seeing the preparation signals most
people miss - the clenched fist, the weight shift, the timing selection. These are the
subtle indicators that violence is imminent that could save your life in a real
confrontation.
But this analysis goes deeper than technique. I introduce you to my
"Three-Day Rule" - would either of these young men, three days later,
say this confrontation was worth potentially ending one life and destroying
another? Absolutely not.
When concrete walls and floors enter the equation, even "just a fight" can turn
deadly in an instant. The environment matters as much as the technique.
"Train and practice so that you can stay in your rational mind,
and force your enemy into his emotional mind. The emotional
mind makes bad judgments which will allow you to win."
-- John Hearne
Bottom Line Up Front --
"Ineffective and potentially dangerous, point shooting should be avoided at all costs
and aimed fire employed in any lethal-force scenario."
"Concealed Carry: Point Shooting Vs Aimed Fire" by Massad Ayoob
"Why are the little things called little things?
They are everything."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"Why We Miss Easy Shots!!!" by Tom McHale
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their
gunfighting skills as opposed to a quest for trophies,
must be willing to bleed ego on the match results
to avoid shedding blood in combat."
-- Andy Stanford
"How Do I Use a Handheld Flashlight and Handgun at The Same Time?"
by Matthew Maruster
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Superior judgment trumps superior skills." -- Dan Millican
"Is Your Trigger Finger Placement Wrong?" by Massad Ayoob
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
The two photos that show a grip on a pistol with a thumb safety,
show the thumb below the thumb safety.
In my opinion, the firing side thumb should always be on top of the safety
to hold the safety down. Otherwise, something will bump the safety and the
pistol won't fire. (You'll get jostled a lot in combat.)
In my opinion, the high thumb grip is correct.
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds or the wounds of your loved ones.
Suggestions on how to avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
Suggestions on how to avoid the civil law suit and judgment.
Table of contents:
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath -----
You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.
“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
"THE MOST EXPENSIVE MISTAKE AFTER A GUNFIGHT" by Gabe Suarez
Excerpt:
"If you're justified, you're going to be just fine."
[Ya, tell that to George Zimmerman. -- Jon Low]
"Tell your story as an articulate first world person."
[Really? After suffering the most traumatic event in your life, you're going to be
articulate? Doesn't Suarez know about false memories and temporary amnesia,
common symptoms of high stress situations. -- Jon Low]
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the address,
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the link is,
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
“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
*************************************************************************
----- Medical -----
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"PLUG THE HOLE" IN YOUR SYSTEM.
What's missing in your trauma EDC,
and what do you choose to fill it?
by Jonathan Willis
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
". . . there is no proven life saving superiority to a product (hemostatic impregnated gauze)
that costs 10X what another (regular gauze) does, in the hands of a person with identical skill
levels would be irresponsible in my opinion. I'm sorry, but I would rather a person have a
quality tourniquet, 2 packs of gauze, a pressure bandage, and a pair of shears, for the same
money spent on one pack of hemostatic gauze."
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified, $495.00
"Gun & Prepping News #26" by Docent
I found the head shot stuff interesting. The section that starts with
• Earlier this month . . .
<Control> F to find text.
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
*************************************************************************
----- Survival -----
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
"Survival is not based solely on technique. Survivability may hinge on the use
of the correct technique appropriate to the environment you are fighting in.
Oh, and yes, marksmanship is always valuable."
-- Clint Smith
"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 ***** ***** *****
Table of contents:
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"Concealed Carriers Do A Better Job Of Stopping Active Shooters Than Police"
by John Lott
"The Rust Shooting: Alec Baldwin’s Role – An Expert’s Take" by James Reeves
The entire camera crew had left because they considered the set unsafe.
So a person (the cinematographer), who was not on the camera crew, was behind
the camera. So the cinematographer got shot and killed, not the cameraman.
Best gun movies:
"Objective"
"Oblivion"
"Heat"
Public Webinar on Guns
Video version of Sociology course at Wake Forest University
Course title "Sociology of Guns" also known as
“Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America”
by Prof. David Yamane
Web site for the course,
"Refuting the Claim: Gun Violence as a Gender Justice Issue"
by Robyn Sandoval
Liberal woke ideology and narratives are always wrong. They are destructive of
women and families. Which is their objective. Their god is the state. So they strive
to destroy the Christian God and the nuclear family.
Liberals advocate feminism, which causes women to choose non-masculine mates,
because masculinity is toxic. Which results in the woman's mate killing the woman,
male or female. Real men don't beat or kill women, especially not their mates (because
masculine men are protectors [as a fundamental personality trait]). Only men with
liberal ideology murder their mates. Ya, I know it's a generalization, but it's not a gross
generalization. Convict interviews make it pretty clear. As a chaplain, I interviewed
many men in prison in South Carolina.
International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors
American Handgunner
Alien Gear blog
Quips
Active Response Training
The Tactical Professor
Rangemaster Newsletter
Shooting Classes Blog
"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
"Self-Defense: Understanding Castle Doctrine" by Alex Ooley
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
Yet another reason to live in the South. The Yankee states are not friendly toward
self-defense, defense of others, or defense of home. Because Northerners shirk the
personal responsibility to protect self, family, and community; instead demanding that
their government do it for them. They don't want to get their hands dirty, because they
are cowards. Yes, as a matter of fact, I have lived in New York and New Jersey and
know from first hand experience.
"I Wrote a Gun Law to Stop BS Lawsuits: And it's Gonna Pass." by James Reeves
"9th Circuit Rules Hawaii Gun Registration Unconstitutional" by Hawai'i Free Press
Sometimes we win. Even in the 9th Circuit.
Tom Givens' post on the book, "When Cops Kill" by Lance LoRusso, Esq.
From an email from Active Self Protection --
"Meet The Can I’s?" by Jamie Green
If you hang out in the concealed carry instructor space much, you will inevitably
run across the person requesting your permission to do “X” if “Y” happens.
They think they know how they would respond to a potential threat and would like
someone to confirm they are right. Asking permission if you will.
Generally, the conversation begins, “If some guy does ________ (fill in the blank),
CAN I shoot him?” or “If someone is beating on my door at 3:00 a.m. CAN I shoot
through the door?” Those are just two examples from a very long list of CAN I’s?
One might be led to think that concealed carry folks are itching to press the trigger.
Doubtful that is true but it does point out that most people may not truly understand
the laws of self-defense.
CAN I?
When confronted with such questions, a smart instructor will take a moment,
gather their thoughts and then hopefully educate Mr/Ms Can I?
First, state laws will trump any opinion offered. There is no state in our great
union which gives legal permission to injure/kill another person. However, most
states do have effective justification laws that will provide protection from
prosecution if, and only if, the defender has made good decisions regarding the
imminent threat coming toward them. (Civil suits may arise regardless).
It’s vital that each of us know and understand our own state’s laws regarding
self-defense.
Through their expert witness work John, Stephannie and Kaery share in ASP
videos that our court experience may not be what we thought it would be.
The adage “I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6” may need to be rethought.
Second, if all legal hurdles are cleared there will still be financial challenges
to consider. Mr/Ms Can I? may have to pay out some legal fees, potentially have
lost income from time off work, and there is also the odd chance of job loss.
Most reply no when asked if they have that expense included in their financial future.
Have you checked the hourly rate of your local criminal defense attorney?
Third, has Mr/Ms Can I? ever truly considered how they (or their family) might
be affected should they have to take the life of another human being? That is a
question that needs to be answered before, not after. Adding to that, seldom does
Mr/Ms Can I? consider they might be injured or killed during their scenario.
We tend to see ourselves as the hero, without much thought about what might happen.
Have you said everything you need to say to your loved ones before going?
Is the family prepared for the injury or loss of the defender? Here is where
financial preparedness or lack thereof can affect a family long into the future.
Once the smoke clears, there will definitely be another chapter to the story.
We call that aftermath, and it can go on for years.
As Advanced Force Science Specialists, John, Stephannie, and Kaery continually
educate on making good decisions. Their video analysis points out where the
defender may have gone wrong, which ultimately reminds us that Can I? should be
replaced with Must I?
MUST I?
We are, after all, Good, Sane, Sober, Moral, Prudent People, aren’t we?
-- Jamie Green
"Gun Rights Lawyer Named ATF’s New Chief Legal Counsel"
by John Crump
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”)
Chief Legal Counsel is now Robert Leider.
"Supreme Court Emergency Decision To End All Firearm Permits Nationwide Put In Motion!"
by Armed Scholar
Prohibitting hunting does not prohibit concealed carry. These are different traditions.
"Grassley EXPOSES FBI Plot Against Trump" by Robert Gouveia Esq.
It's important to know the names of the FBI Special Agents, in case you run into them.
If you don't think the FBI is corrupt, you're naive. Arctic Frost.
Gregory E Seneff's Post
Below is a link to a video created by Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who is a member
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is discussing a case
that came before his court on appeal called Duncan v. Bonta (23-55805). The case
discusses features on a firearm that, according to the State of California, violates state
statutes. Judge VanDyke illustrates the fallacy of the logic used by the State of California
in both passing the statute and the application of the statute in everyday and common use
of the firearm. Judge Van Dyke’s educated opinion is the minority opinion, and the
majority’s opinion on this case is ignorant of basic firearms operation and usage.
What Judge VanDyke’s video also clearly illustrates is the absolute ignorance of
firearms of the majority of anti-Constitutional legislators, lawyers, and JUDGES.
In other words, the interpretation and restrictions on the Second Amendment is being
made by individuals who have no understanding of the basic instruments to which it
applies. That begs the question of why they are qualified to issue legal opinions on
the subject in any manner.
"Dissent video in 23-55805 Duncan v. Bonta
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit"
by Judge Lawrence VanDyke
"Fast and Furious Whistleblower Blasts Mexico's Lawsuit Against Gun Makers"
by Cam Edwards
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
Excerpt:
" The heights of absurdity in Mexico’s lawsuit include its citation of
Lone Wolf Trading Co., a Phoenix-based gun shop it identifies as
'the number-one dealer of firearms recovered in Mexico in 2010.' "
[This is not only absurd, it is false.
"The number one dealer of firearms recovered in Mexico in 2010",
would be Sig Sauer, USA, because the vast majority of firearms recovered in
Mexico are traced back to Mexican armed forces armories and Sig Sauer is the
primary supplier of firearms for the Mexican armed forces.
(I wonder why Sig Sauer is not listed as a defendant in the Mexican law suit?
No, I don't.)
-- Jon Low]
"The importance of concealed carry reciprocity:
Over 86% of police chiefs and sheriffs support national reciprocity"
by John Lott
"Supreme Court Issues 7-2 Decision" by Roman Balmakov
Ruling,
Crime of violence may be committed by omission.
“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 -----
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
-- Richard Henry Dana
----- Instructors -----
“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
-- Robert John Meehan
Instructors, you need to read this.
"Training for Untrained Performance?" by Dustin Salomon
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
I was working with a student using a S&W M&P EZ. She was dry firing.
I was racking the slide for her, to simulate the action cycling after a shot was fired.
On several occasions she pressed the trigger, but the pistol did not fire (click).
At first, I thought that her grip was wrong, in that she was not compressing the
grip safety. But I was wrong. I was not racking the slide far enough to the rear
to cock the action. Unlike my many other pistols, the EZ requires the slide to
go all the way back to cock the action.
Like Clint Smith, I learn something new every time I teach a class.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
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
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
"You must teach skill sustainment as part of training."
-- John Hearne
"The limited time you spend with students may be the only training they ever receive!"
-- John Farnam
----- Students -----
"Growth is uncomfortable because you've never been there before."
-- Nicola Cavanis
Even if you have large man hands, you may have short fingers. So a small grip
would be required to fit you properly. Don't let your ego get in the way.
Your wife might have petite hands, but long fingers. So her grip may be larger
than yours. Let it be water off a duck's back. Doesn't matter in the least.
Everyone is different. Make sure to use a pistol that fits your hand. The trigger
can always be moved by a competent gunsmith.
"But I need a 45 ACP double stack."
No, as a matter of fact, you don't. What you need is a pistol that fits your hands.
The hands that God gave you for good reason, for His purpose, not necessarily your
purpose.
"Keep in mind that this is some seriously next level material.
It is totally normal that the first time you see this stuff, you find
it confusing. You find it difficult to understand. So, confusion
should not discourage you. It does not represent any intellectual
failing on your part. Rather, keep in mind that it represents an
opportunity to get even smarter."
– Tim Roughgarden, Professor of Computer Science and other
stuff at Stanford University
"Try.
Try again.
Try once more.
Try differently.
Try again tomorrow.
Try and ask for help.
Try find someone who's done it.
Try to fix the problem.
Keep trying until you succeed."
-- Nicola Cavanis
----- Andragogy -----
‟An instructor should not expect any learning to
take place the first time new information is presented.”
-- ‶Building Shooters″ by Dustin Salomon
"Teaching Tip- Giving Constructive Feedback" by Greg Ellifritz
"Context and learning in firearms training" by John Hearne
Excerpt:
"Researchers Stephanie Kalchik and Kathleen Oertle describe contextualization
as an approach that offers “instructional strategies designed to seamlessly link the
learning of foundational skills . . . by focusing on concrete applications in a real-life
context.” Beyond connecting instruction to reality, contextualization can significantly
accelerate students’ learning."
"Rather than simply reciting firearms safety rules and having students repeat them
from memory, this approach forces them to actively figure out how those rules apply
in practical situations."
"Speaking generally, the firearms training community makes two major mistakes.
The first is accepting performance standards that fail to reflect the realities of armed
conflict.
The second is failing to contextualize the skills we teach — or doing so too late in
the learning process."
"The next time you teach a skill you consider critical, find a way to contextualize
it early in the learning process."
"Lessons Learned As A Professional Instructor" by Justin
Hat to Greg Ellifritz.
And oldie but goodie. Well worth rereading.
"It's better to be wrong than to be vague."
-- Freeman Dyson
If you're wrong we can correct you. If you're vague, no one can help you.
*************************************************************************
----- Gear -----
And the safe storage thereof.
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
Tom Givens's Post (concerning red dot sights)
---
Not to mention the expense of a red dot sight. Not to mention the expense of machining
the slide to accept a red dot sight, or the expense of a pistol ready to accept the red dot sight.
Not to mention the time and effort for training and practice to be competent with the sight.
---
From an email from Gabe Suarez --
"OPTICS, RESPECT, NEED, AND AN OPEN MIND" by Gabe Suarez
The tactical (CCW, EDC, self defense, or whatever other descriptor you wish)
gun community is a strange animal. It is, on its face, a martial organization.
Yet its members never test themselves - combatively speaking - against each other
in actual live pressure events. This happens routinely in the martial arts world.
And I will note that shooting a stationary paper target that is not shooting back
at you, nor moving, nor doing all those unexpected, and pesky things a live
adversary would do, is not the same.
There is of course force on force, but few "shooters" want, or like to do that,
so it rarely becomes a part of the discussion. Everything is left in the theoretical
or statistical realms. And those theories and statistics are not going to be valid
for everyone.
The other matter is the lack of a physical cost for a challenge yields a
disrespectful attitude. After all, what are they going to do - shoot you? We should
be able to disagree like gentlemen gunfighters, have a drink, and go on with our
lives. At the end of the day what you carry doesn't matter one iota to me. But as
a trainer it is my calling to provide perspectives on these things.
The point of this post is an entry by noted trainer Tom Givens in his
Rangemaster Facebook Group. Tom is old school, and bases his material on
students of his that have defended themselves with firearms - several dozen
according to him - in the last few decades. He was upset when he wrote the piece,
and rightly so, because someone had apparently been disrespectful and was
advocating that anyone who did not have optics on pistols was an Elmer Fudd
who would be killed on the street if they were ever tested.
He went on to cite, " I NEVER have a class where no one’s dot fails. Never.
Sudden loss of zero, sheared screws, turns itself off unexpectedly—all this and
more. I have had from 1-4 dot failures every class in the past 5 years, since we
started getting a lot of them in class".
Moreover, he says of his student's experiences, "There was 1 at 15 yards,
1 at 17 yards, and 1 at 22 yards. 92% of them happened between 3 and 7 yards,
with most being 3-5 yards. Why would I need a dot for that?"
First of all I want to note that I have the utmost respect for Tom, but my
perspective differs a bit. Here is my point of view, offered as a respectful,
"yes . . . but . . . "
I started the current "red dot revolution" in 2009. It is history. See the article
image above dated 2010. We were well on our way it its development by then.
What Todd Jarret was doing is as similar to what I did as an apple to a banana.
And what Kelly McCann with with his Docter and Glock 19 was closer, but still
across the map from what my former company Suarez international did - milling
a dovetail deep in the slide for a low mounted optic between the existing sights.
And when we did, the masses of the people now selling them and teaching classes
based on them laughed at us.
I say that only to establish my expertise on the matter, and point out - ever so
humbly - that I know far more about how this is supposed to work than probably
the rest of the red dot advocates combined.
I taught the first ever Red Dot Pistol class in December 2010. That was 15 years
ago. I have been teaching classes on this topic, both operator level and instructor level,
ever since. And if we count people that I have taught at the instructor level now
teaching others, we have impressive numbers. A properly mounted and secured optic,
of high end quality, will not lose zero, shear screws, turn off, or anything else.
And if it does, nobody watching would notice since the properly set up pistol has
co-witnessed iron sights that are always in the field of view where a simple shift of
vision will supply and iron sight sight picture. (Yes, you need to know and have both).
In fifteen years the only issues we have seen are from the old Type 1 RMRs,
low cost "bargain" optics, or improperly installed optics. A shooter that is taken out
of the running because his dot goes out has not been properly trained on dots.
The other matter is that of statistics. I look at the groups that attend my classes
and I see very few people there that a street thug would consider a good choice to
prey upon. Maybe it is the attitude, the command presence, the posture, or something
else. I had one gentleman tell me that if a common thug chose him as a target,
he would be truly offended and have to go home and look in the mirror and wonder
what it was that made the dead guy think he could take him. That is a different
frame of mind and a different energy. They are not stuck in the elevator with the
killer . . . the killer is stuck in the elevator with them.
On distances and dynamics of confrontation. If we look at those stats, and accept
them as "This is what will happen and what we need to be prepared for", why train
so hard? Why not just carry a 6 shot revolver . . . maybe a speedloader if you are in
a bad neighborhood, shoot once a month and call it good? After all, you aren't going
to need a semi auto pistol, nor a $700 pistol class for those problems . . . are you?
The issue is that inventions and ideas are developed to make things easier for us.
We could still survive with S&W Model 10s, landline telephones, books, and postal
mail, but we developed beyond that and even the most ardent traditionalist likely
has an Android phone in his car charger listening to a book on his way to work.
Optics on pistols - properly installed quality (meaning expensive) are extremely
reliable . . . as reliable as rifle optics are. And they are easy to learn if you have an
instructor that knows how to teach the subject. It is true that they are not necessary
for the 92% that happen between 3 to 7 yards. But if we are truly honest with each
other we will admit that we do not need any sort of sights to hit a chest at these
distances.
What the optics offer is an easier to use, easier to learn, sighting system that
allows for a much more accurate shot fired just as fast as with iron sights. And for
those times when the shots stretch out past the statistical distances, like would be
likely in an active shooter interdiction event, you will thank me for having an
optic on your blaster as you settle the dot on the back of the tango's head at 25 yards.
-- Gabe Suarez
"Flashlights!" by John Farnam
"A Hard Look In The Mirror" by Clint Smith
Excerpt:
Play with handguns — fight with rifles.
"How to Safely Carry In a Vehicle: Holster Considerations" by Travis Pike
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
It may not earn me any cool points, but I generally strap on a fanny pack when
I’m driving really long distances. I find it to be a very good balance of comfortable
carry and easy accessibility behind the wheel.
-- Greg Ellifritz
"Better Bag Carry" by Greg Ellifritz
A brilliant hack.
"How Much Ammo Is Enough?" by Dave Anderson
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Anyone who would use a Springfield Armory XD in their cover photo can't be all bad.
"Everyday Carry Essentials" by Chris Cypert
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Gun Magazine Dictionary: Everything You Need To Know"
by Chris Fortenberry
"Recent History of Small Arms Cartridges: Featuring Kirk W!"
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Check-mate magazines.
Liberty Doll suggested you check them out.
Doubletap Ammunition
Use code IDPA10 for a 10% discount. IDPA recommends.
The drama never ends.
"SIG IS GASLIGHTING YOU" by Brandon Herrera
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law, ITAR,
International Traffic in Arms Regulations. That means cryptosystems are
protected by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Never let the
government infringe on your right to keep and bear cryptosystems, to
include home made cryptosystems, to include sharing cryptosystems with
others.
"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
"Gödel's theorem debunks the most important AI myth.
AI will not be conscious" by Roger Penrose
"Never memorize anything. Rather, study it until it becomes obvious."
-- Norman Christ
"I can prove I’ve solved this Sudoku without revealing it" by Polylog
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that?
We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.
We must believe that we are gifted for something,
and that this thing must be attained."
-- Marie Curie
"Most Popular Operating Systems: Data from 1981 to 2025" by Data Is Beautiful
Hat tip to Sidney Ontai.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
"Does the Universe Have a Maximum Temperature?
The Planck Temperature Explained"
by Physics Explained
"You don't need to memorize theorems,
because you can always derive them from first principles."
-- Sven Hartman
"The Riddle That Seems Impossible Even If You Know The Answer"
by Veritasium
How could you use a protocol that allowed you to decrypt with probability
of 1 - ln(2) ≈ 30.7% ? Most of the time, the decryptor would fail. Is that a
problem? A good or bad problem?
***** Signals Intelligence and Ground Electronic Warfare, Cyber Security,
(sometimes Air Electronic Warfare too) *****
"A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined,
but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain
a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them,
which would include their own government."
--George Washington
"Using Cheap Software Defined Radios to Track Drones and Jammers"
by TREX LABS
In Middle Tennessee. "If I knew what I was doing." "Jamming detection."
"Drone detection." "GPS spoofing."
When he says, "decode", he means "demodulate"; sometimes he means
decode in the sense of protocol.
I was MOS 2651, (military occupational specialty)
26XX signals intelligence and ground electronic warfare,
2651 cryptologic communications technician. This was back in the early 1980's.
MOS's have changed since then. [Did you notice that Naval Technical Training
Center, Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida was attacked recently? Not much
media attention. Do you understand why? Which school was attacked?]
In retrospect, I noticed that the 26XX field had the hottest chicks, by far.
Or, maybe I just thought they were hot because they were smart; IQ smart,
not necessarily street smart. Remember, we were all very young back then.
TREX LABS
"Chinese GPS Chips in Russian Weapons and why the US is to Blame"
by Ryan McBeth
Pointing your antenna's null toward the jammer is more effective than pointing your
main lobe toward the intended source or recipient. How would I know? Experiments
conducted at Lockheed Martin, Advanced Technology Laboratories in Cherry Hill, NJ.
From The Economist -- (to be taken with a big grain of salt)
"Chinese hackers are getting bigger, better and stealthier" by (no one was willing to
take responsibility for this article)
Experts say it is the main shift in the cyber-threat landscape in a decade.
China’s power is growing rapidly every year. From warships to missiles, the country
is churning out hardware at an extraordinary rate. In the unseen, online world, it is
making similar leaps. On March 4th America’s Justice Department charged eight
Chinese nationals with large-scale hacking of government agencies, news outlets and
dissidents in America and around the world, on behalf of i-Soon, a Chinese company,
at the direction of the Chinese government. It also indicted two officials who it said
“directed the hacks”. These instances are the tip of a vast iceberg. Over the past
decade China’s hacking program has grown rapidly, to the point that in 2023
Christopher Wray, then the FBI director, noted it was larger than that of every other
major nation combined. China’s growing heft and sophistication have yielded success
in three main areas.
The first is political espionage, linked primarily to the Ministry of State Security
(MSS), China’s foreign-intelligence service. Last year it emerged that one group of
Chinese hackers, dubbed Salt Typhoon, had breached at least nine American phone
companies, giving them access to the calls and messages of important officials.
Ciaran Martin, who led Britain’s cyber-defense agency from 2016 to 2020, compares
it to the revelations in 2013 by Edward Snowden, a government contractor, that
American spy agencies were conducting cyber-espionage on a huge scale. China was
“gaining vast access to the nation’s communications via a strategic spying operation
of breathtaking audacity,” he says.
A second is in domains of little espionage value: hacking that lays the groundwork
for sabotage in moments of crisis or war. These efforts are led by the People’s
Liberation Army (PLA), China’s armed forces. In 2023 it became apparent that a
PLA-linked hacking group known as Volt Typhoon had, over several years, burrowed
into an extraordinary range of American critical infrastructure, from ports to factories
to water-treatment plants, across the continental United States and in strategic American
territories such as Guam.
All of that builds on a third type of hacking: the industrial-scale theft of intellectual
property. In 2013 Mandiant, a cyber-threat intelligence firm, which is now part of
Google, made waves when it exposed “apt1”, the label for a group of hackers linked to
the PLA. apt1 was not focused on stealing political secrets or turning off power grids
but on stealing blueprints, manufacturing processes and business plans from American
firms. A year later America’s government took the then unprecedented step of indicting
five PLA hackers for this activity. Keith Alexander, a former head of the
National Security Agency (NSA), America’s signals-intelligence service, described
this as “the greatest transfer of wealth in history”. That period ended with a partial
truce. In 2015 Barack Obama, then America’s president, and Xi Jinping, his Chinese
counterpart, announced a “common understanding”. Neither country would conduct
cyber-espionage to steal intellectual property. The agreement worked. [What nonsense.
-- Jon Low] Shortly afterwards commercial espionage of this sort fell dramatically,
if temporarily. [No, it didn't. -- Jon Low]
But that was simply the start of the new era of political espionage and sabotage.
All of these areas have been affected by three big shifts within China’s hacking
programs. One is who is doing the hacking. In 2015-16, shortly after being
shocked by the Snowden revelations, China reshuffled its cyber forces. The PLA was
forced to retrench, focusing on military intelligence and reconnaissance—like Volt
Typhoon—and its activity declined. The MSS took over political-intelligence
gathering—like Salt Typhoon—which it conducted with gusto, and commercial
espionage, which continued on a smaller scale. “Nowadays,” writes Tom Uren, author
of “Risky Business”, a cyber newsletter, “the MSS is the big kahuna.”
Second, Chinese hacking got better. About 20 years ago, when cyber-security firms
began tracking the threat, Chinese hackers were “very, very loud”, says John Hultquist
of Mandiant, “incredibly willing to set off alarms, incredibly willing to be caught”.
A European official concurs. Even five years ago, she says, “Chinese cyber operators
were not considered very sophisticated.” That has now changed. “The speed at which
they improve always seems to come as a surprise to Westerners, even though it really
shouldn’t,” says the official. “If China wants to accelerate in an area, then they will,
and they have very smart people.”
That points to a third shift. Chinese cyber operations now draw increasingly on a
large and flourishing private-sector ecosystem which has become a talent pipeline,
enabler and force multiplier for Chinese cyber operations around the world. Consider
the MSS-linked Tianfu Cup in the south-western city of Chengdu (which has emerged
as a hub for this kind of activity). It is one of many “capture the flag” (CTF)
competitions in which tech-savvy youngsters compete to show off their hacking prowess
by finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in software. China has hosted about 130 of
these sorts of events since 2004, most of them after 2014, and many backed by
government ministries, according to data collected by Dakota Cary, a consultant at
Sentinel One, a cyber-security company, and Eugenio Benincasa of the Centre for
Security Studies at ETH Zurich. These events can draw huge crowds. The Wangding
Cup is organized by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which runs the country’s
police force and gathers domestic intelligence. The cup is known as the “cyber-security
Olympics” and can attract 30,000 people, note Mr. Cary and Mr. Benincasa.
The tournaments are scouting grounds for Chinese spooks. As with elite sports,
a handful of star hackers tend to drive a team’s success. A decade ago Chinese hackers
were allowed to travel to contests abroad; that is now restricted. The vulnerabilities
they discover — weaknesses in code that can be used to gain access — “are siphoned
straight into the state apparatus”, says a person familiar with the process. In 2021 the
government punished Alibaba Cloud, a tech firm, for divulging a vulnerability without
first telling the state. Talent contests are just the start.
Last year, documents belonging to i-Soon were leaked on the internet.
They showed that the firm was functioning as a private signals-intelligence agency
whose targets spanned 23 countries: Nepal’s presidential palace, road-mapping data
from Taiwan, South Korean telephone logs, Indian immigration systems and Thailand’s
intelligence service. i-Soon is one of many such firms in Chengdu. The firms are not
unstoppable ninjas—the leaked files show evidence of internal arguments,
disorganization and failure—but they add to China’s cyber heft.
Even where MSS hackers do the hacking themselves, they often rely on this
corporate hinterland for the tools and infrastructure to enable their attacks.
When Chinese hackers first started, they used to come, undisguised,
“right out of Shanghai networks”, says Mr. Hultquist. Today they make use of
operational-relay-box (ORB) networks, built and maintained by private firms, which
use compromised devices around the world, such as home internet routers, to disguise
the origin of attacks. The increasing scale, sophistication and aggression of Chinese
hacking are “by far the most significant shift in the cyber-threat landscape in well
over a decade”, notes Mr. Martin. Volt and Salt Typhoon, on their own, “are strategic
compromises of the West on a scale hitherto unseen by any other cyber power”, he
warns. It is not yet an all-out cyberwar. “What separates China from their peers like
Russia, North Korea, and Iran”, says Mr. Hultquist, is that those states routinely cross
the line from espionage to disruption, from spying and reconnaissance to outright
sabotage. China has “never pulled the trigger”, he says. Even in American
infrastructure networks, China has stopped short of inserting destructive code.
[What total nonsense. -- Jon Low] “We can see them doing the reconnaissance.
We can see them getting into place. They’re not showing us the weapon.”
-- The Economist
Breaking Defense has a weekly newsletter, "Networks & Digital Warfare" at
Crypto-Gram by Bruce Schneier
2600
‟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, "Principles of Personal Defense"
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"⚠️Credible Intelligence Points to Imminent Terror Attack on US Hospitals:
What You Need to Know" by Christian Warrior
"BREAKING:
Donald Trump NEW Secret Service Whistleblower comes forward in second shooting attempt"
by Mike Pache
This is why Trump is using his own security. This is why your help is needed.
"🔷 Pulsed" by The Merge
Source: Defense Intelligence Agency, via The Merge
Bottom Line Up Front: "There were no [North Korean] deserters."
[I believe this to be truth, as opposed to the media propaganda.
Yes, I fought them in the DMZ. So I sort of know what I'm talking about.
-- Jon Low]
---
"Korea: North Korean Angst In Ukraine" by James Dunnigan
March 17, 2025: While Ukraine has dozens of countries supplying military and
economic aid, Russia has only Iran and North Korea. These two nations have been
under economic sanctions for decades while Russia has had to deal with sanctions
for only eleven years. Iran has long been a supplier of missiles, drones and other
military material. Last year Iran suffered heavy losses from Israeli air strikes. Iran
was forced to abandon its operations in Syria and Lebanon because a surprise attack
on Syria by forces of former Islamic terrorists ousted its Assad regime. For Russia
this meant Iran had little to sell, other than some Saheed drones.
North Korea had more weapons, munitions and even soldiers that Russia could
have, for a price. During the first year of the war, North Korea only provided
weapons and ammunition. In the last year Russia was able to obtain about 11,000
North Korean soldiers. This seemed like a good idea at the time. Russia hired
12,000 North Korean soldiers. These soldiers were deceived by their own
government, which told the Russians that these soldiers were expendable and they
could do whatever they wanted with them. By the end of the year the North Korean
soldiers were in combat and currently half of them have been killed, wounded or
captured. There were no deserters. A portion of the North Korean force consisted
of special operations troops who were there to advise and train the North Koreans
as well as ensuring that none of them deserted.
North Koreans were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured and many
wounded North Koreans were seen doing this. Others did not, sometimes pretending
to be unconscious until the Russians came along to collect the wounded. At that
point the North Koreans felt safe from their own superiors who had orders to kill the
wounded if they did not kill themselves.
Russia agreed to treat any wounded North Koreans but when hundreds of wounded
North Korean soldiers were taken to Russian military hospitals it was discovered there
were few, if any interpreters who could translate for the medical personnel to treat
wounds. This complicated treatment led to many avoidable deaths. There were few
translators in combat, which led to at least two incidents of North Korean and Russian
troops firing on each other. To the North Koreans the Russians and Ukrainians looked
similar, spoke similar languages and wore similar combat uniforms. The lack of
interpreters led to the North Korean troops becoming a liability to the Russians as well.
The North Koreans operated in their own units, which were two or three brigades.
There were some Russian and North Korean bilingual officers and troops attached to
the staffs of these brigades. That helped the brigade commanders to understand what
the Russians wanted done, but there were problems getting that information to the
North Korean soldiers in a timely and useful manner.
One thing the Russians did notice was that the North Koreans were far more
professional than Russians. Their attack tactics were more disciplined and, unlike
the Russians, the North Koreans took their dead and wounded off the battlefield.
Russians also discovered that North Korean battlefield medical care was superior
to what Russia offered. North Korea had also agreed to treat seriously wounded
Russian soldiers in North Korean hospitals. The Russian patients noted that the
care was far superior to what they would encounter in a Russian hospital.
-- James Dunnigan
Well, here's an example of getting both sides of the story.
"The Voice of Radical America" by The White House
---
"Stalin, Mao and Khomeini couldn’t quell freedom’s voice. But Trump did."
by Dana Milbank
Do you understand why this is in the intelligence section?
"SO, IT’S WAR!
Thousands of Western Soldiers Enter Ukraine to Fight Russia!"
by RFU News
If you're not receiving the newsletter emails from Global Recaps, you're missing out.
"LIVE from Russia: War Correspondent Elizaveta Igorevna" by Daniel Davis
"Ukraine's Sabotage: Zelensky Strikes Russia's Key Natural Gas Facility,
Violates Limited Ceasefire" by World Affairs In Context
Lena Petrova
[I wonder if she's related to Irina Sergina Petrova?
-- Jon Low]
"BREAKING:
IDF Strikes ELIMINATE Hamas Leaders;
Houthis Attack U.S. Aircraft Carrier" by Yair Pinto, TBN Israel
Lebanon at war with Syria.
Israelis who enter Gaza intend to remain, rather than withdraw as in the past.
New strategy, by a new chief of staff, Ayal Zamir.
"Intelligence: Filipino Spy Wars" by James Dunnigan
March 24, 2025: In January five Chinese citizens were arrested and accused of
spying for China. The five men were detected around several naval and Coast Guard
bases, posing as photo taking tourists. It is unclear if the men were working for
Chinese intelligence or freelancing in the hopes of delivering something useful
to the Chinese government.
The Chinese also used quadcopter drones to take pictures and this activity led
to their arrest. The men were seen by locals, who reported the suspicious activity
to the police. The five belonged to the Qiaoxing Volunteer Group of the Philippines
and the Philippine China Association of Promotion of Peace and Friendship.
These organizations encourage improved relations between China and the Philippines.
In 2024 Filipino police found drones in different parts of the country. All were
apparently Chinese. In early 2025 a Chinese naval drone was found in the
South China Sea. There is much for Chinese spies to observe in the Philippines.
During 2024 there were many infrastructure improvements including new roads
and upgrades to airports and shipping facilities.
This comes after decades of little activity. The differences were obvious to
most Filipinos. Problems remain including high unemployment and inflation.
The Filipino currency, the peso, has lost more value versus the dollar because
of economic stagnation. Chinese claims on Filipino territory in the South China Sea
remained unresolved. In 2024 that led to dozens of Filipino and Chinese warships
confronting each other in the South China Sea with some violence and a few injuries.
Internal security was another matter. Decades of effort finally reduced or
eliminated the internal threat of leftist and Islamic rebellions. Now most Filipinos
are more concerned about endemic corruption, widespread drug addiction and the
resulting economic crisis. There is also the Chinese threat, with more Chinese
warships showing up in what had been, until recently, unquestionably Filipino
controlled waters. Most Filipinos see China as a threat but not as crucial as the
internal problems with drugs, corruption, Islamic terrorism, and unemployment.
Since elected president in 2016 Rodrigo Duterte did what most Filipinos wanted,
he reduced crime and drug violence.
Duterte was succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr.in 2023. The new president
continued what Duterte had been doing. This includes maintaining the peace deal
with Moslem separatists in the south and continuing to diminish leftist rebel
movements. The Islamic minority in the south, led by the separatist MILF
(Moro Islamic Liberation Front) organization, retained its autonomy agreement to
prevent efforts to expel non-Moslems. There was one condition. MILF had to
help destroy Abu Sayyaf, the ultra-radical Islamic terrorist group in the south that
is responsible for most of the kidnappings and terror bombings down there.
Some MILF factions refused to accept the peace deal and had, along with
Abu Sayyaf, aligned themselves with ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
Abu Sayyaf integrated itself with the local clan culture and became very difficult
to eliminate. The Moslems have, as always, lots of clan feuds and internal
violence which will survive the autonomy deal with the government. By 2023
Islamic terrorists and communist rebels were much less active because there
were a lot fewer of them and there was much less popular support.
The government received record high approval ratings from the voters even as
local and foreign critics accuse the government of atrocious behavior.
-- James Dunnigan
"Naval Air: Iran Gets an Aircraft Carrier" by James Dunnigan
March 30, 2025: In February the first Iranian aircraft carrier, the 40,000 ton
Shahid Bahman Bagheri, entered service. Top speed is 32 kilometers an hour and
max endurance range is 39,000 kilometers. The carrier can stay at sea for 80 days.
The ship is operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/IRGC NAVY.
The only aircraft carried are two helicopters and 100 or more drones. The carrier
has a curved ski jump deck to aid in launching larger drones weighing several
hundred kg or more. The flight deck is 180 meters long and the carrier overall
length is 240 meters.
The carrier is the result of spending two years to convert a cargo ship. This included
The carrier is the result of spending two years to convert a cargo ship. This included
installation of air and surface search radars as well as Signals Intelligence or SIGINT as
well as electronic countermeasures. The carrier can also operate unmanned surface ships.
In 2023 commercial satellite photos revealed construction of the carrier. Iran is always
building new small craft, some of them armed with anti-ship missiles but most of them
much smaller and armed mostly with an aggressive attitude. The new ship under
construction in the Bandar Abbas shipyard on the Straits of Hormuz was an aircraft
carrier. This new ship was based on a the Perarin, a converted container ship built in
2000. As a container ship could carry 3,280 TEU 20 foot containers.
Such conversions are nothing new and were carried out in a big way during
World War II when the United States and Britain built about 135 CVE escort carriers,
often by converting existing cargo ships or tankers. CVEs were typically around
150 meters long, not much more than half the length of the CV fleet carriers of the
same era, but were less than a third of the weight. A typical CVE displaced about
8,000 tons, compared to almost 30,000 tons for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft
hangar typically ran only a third of the way under the CVE flight deck and housed a
combination of 24–30 fighters and bombers organized into one single composite
squadron. By comparison, a late model Essex-class CV fleet carrier could carry
103 propeller driven aircraft. All carriers built since World War II were built as
carriers, not converted cargo ships or tankers. The post-war carriers were designed
to handle fewer but larger jet-propelled warplanes that operated at higher speeds even
when landing.
Converting a container ship to a carrier is difficult because the superstructure
containing crew quarters, workspaces and offices stretches across the ship and is
over a hundred meters from the rear of the ship. Using a container ship as a carrier
means building an odd shaped flight deck. Satellite photos showed an angled flight
deck that partially overhangs the hull. The area behind the superstructure is being
used as a helicopter landing pad with anti-aircraft guns mounted at the rear of the ship.
The new carrier will carry and operate several types of drones, including the
Shahed 129A. Iran has about three dozen of these and while they look like an
American Predator, they are smaller, less than half a ton, and the tech was obtained
from reverse engineering an Israeli Hermes 450 that crashed largely intact in a place
the Iranians could recover it. The 129A entered service in 2013 and is not used as
a cruise missile, like the smaller less than a quarter ton Shahed 136 used in Ukraine
as a cruise missile. The 129A can carry four Sadid guided bombs. Each of these
weighs 34 kg and has a max range of six kilometers. Accuracy is at several meters,
not as precise as missiles like Hellfire which can hit within a meter of the target.
Sadid was proved effective when used in Syria.
Operating relatively large drones like the 129A from a carrier deck may lead to
Operating relatively large drones like the 129A from a carrier deck may lead to
a few accidents and possible loss of some 129As. This is less of a problem with the
smaller drones used as cruise missiles on one-way missions. Most of the drones
carried by the new carrier will be these smaller models. They are built in large
quantities and Iran assisted the Russians in building a factory in Russia to produce
several types of Iranian drones. The larger drones are often built in smaller quantities,
often no more than 30 or 40. The exceptions are particularly successful models,
like the more than 200 Mohajer-6s built since 2018.
Iran’s drone carrier can carry over a hundred drones if most of them are the smaller
Iran’s drone carrier can carry over a hundred drones if most of them are the smaller
models used as cruise missiles. The larger drones are essential for reconnaissance and
surveillance. Training operations will be monitored because they have to be held at sea
under realistic windy with rough waters to be effective. Some Western navies operate
large drones off carrier decks. Turkey has built an amphibious assault ship with a carrier
deck designed for operating large, jet powered, drones. The only problem with the
Iranian carriers is that they are easy to spot and track by nations like Israel with their
own surveillance satellites and warplanes carrying long-range air-to-surface missiles
that can be used against ships. Israel also has submarines operating in the region.
Iran appears to be converting a second ship, a tanker into a carrier and apparently
Iran appears to be converting a second ship, a tanker into a carrier and apparently
has ambitious plans for these new ships. Iran lives in a dangerous neighborhood,
made so largely by the mischief Iran creates, and the neighbors, especially the wealthy
Arab oil states are heavily armed and well trained to handle whatever Iran aims at them.
Iran has not built many large warships, mainly because of the expense and lack of
Iran has not built many large warships, mainly because of the expense and lack of
suitable shipyards. The last large warship built in 2020 was the Shahid Roudaki.
This was not exactly a warship but a Roll on-Roll Off/RO-RO freighter built in 1992.
RO-RO means the ship has ramps that make it easy for vehicles to get on or off the
spacious deck and spaces below the deck. The 150 meter long, 22 meter wide,
Galaxy F/Shahid Roudaki can carry up to 536 cargo containers in the hold and on deck.
This ship is elderly by commercial shipping standards and Iran could have bought it cheap,
given it a new paint job and filled a deck with various types of rockets, air-defense
systems and drones, plus one 1970s vintage Bell 412 helicopter.
The Iranian RO/RO warship actually belongs to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary
The Iranian RO/RO warship actually belongs to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps, also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards) Navy, which does not
have any large combat ships. There are over a thousand armed speedboats plus
five amphibious ships, three LSTs and two smaller LCTs, and three cargo ships.
The 12,000-ton Shahid Roudaki has not seen any action and was apparently built
to test new concepts, including the conversion of larger ships into aircraft carriers.
The actual Iranian Navy maintains a force of conventional warships, but not as
The actual Iranian Navy maintains a force of conventional warships, but not as
many as it would like. Currently, the only major surface warships are three 1,500-ton
frigates built in Britain during the 1970s. Between 2010 and 2021 Iran built four
1,500-ton frigates. There are three 1960s vintage under a thousand ton corvettes,
two from America and one from the Netherlands.
There are about fifty smaller patrol craft, ten of them armed with Chinese anti-ship
There are about fifty smaller patrol craft, ten of them armed with Chinese anti-ship
missiles. There are another few dozen mine warfare, amphibious, and support ships.
The three most powerful ships in the fleet are three Russian Kilo class subs. There are
about fifty mini-subs, most of them built in Iran.
There are some serious quality problems with Iranian built warships, and not just
because of budget problems and sanctions. Iran's naval shipbuilding facility at the
Bushehr shipyard has lots of labor problems. That includes strikes and lockouts as
well as complaints of poor designs and sloppy management. Iran has, for the last two
decades, announced many new, locally made, weapons that turned out to be more spin
than substance.
Iran does have commercial shipbuilding firms which produce merchant ships that
Iran does have commercial shipbuilding firms which produce merchant ships that
are larger than destroyers. It was believed that Iran could build something that looks
like a destroyer. The Jamaran class ships have Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles,
but a lot of the other necessary military electronics are harder to get and install in a
seagoing ship. Iran has coped by using commercial equipment. This does not make
for a formidable warship but does enable high seas operations.
Iran is trying to expand its slowly growing naval power on its Caspian Sea,
Iran is trying to expand its slowly growing naval power on its Caspian Sea,
Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean coasts. Since 2011, Iran has had one or more of its
few surface warships working with the international anti-piracy patrol off Somalia.
They’re opposed to piracy unless they do it. This was the first time since the 1970s
that the Iranian Navy has conducted sustained operations outside its coastal waters.
Despite their own Islamic radical government, the Iranian sailors have got along
with the other members of the patrol, including the United States, which is officially
the Great Satan back home. Encouraged by this, Iran announced that it would send
more of its warships off to distant areas, mainly to show the world that Iran was a
naval power capable of such reach. These voyages often ran into problems and the
Iranians learned to send a resupply ship along containing a large stock of spare parts
and skilled ship techs to install them as needed.
The collapse of world oil prices in 2014, more than the numerous economic
The collapse of world oil prices in 2014, more than the numerous economic
sanctions, crippled expansion plans for the Iranian Navy. Most of the sanctions
were lifted in a 2015 treaty but that has not helped the navy much because a lot
of the additional cash went to prop up the Assad government in Syria and finance
the pro-Iranian Shia militias in Iraq and Yemen. Then the U.S. revived the sanctions
in 2017 and that further depleted Iranian finances, leading to more cuts in defense
spending. What it comes down to is that the navy is not nearly as high a priority as
the ground and air forces. Iran has never been a significant naval power and that
does not appear to be changing any time soon.
-- James Dunnigan
"Surface Forces : Robot Ships For Singapore" by James Dunnigan
March 31, 2025: The southeast Asian city-state of Singapore is responsible for
security of the 223 kilometers long and 19 kilometers wide Singapore Strait that
connects the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. Over a thousand ships a
day traverse this seaway. Until recently security consisted of shore based sensors
and offshore patrol ships. Recently Singapore added some Maritime Security
Unmanned Surface Vessels or MARSEC naval drones. These 30-ton drones are
16.9 meters long and 5.2 meters wide. Top speed is nearly 50 kilometers an hour
and endurance is up to 40 hours at sea.
A two man team ashore or in a nearby vessel controls the MARSEC drones.
They are equipped to identify a ship by reading its mandatory transponder and
track its movement through Singapore controlled waters. The drone’s electronics
handles avoiding obstacles. Additional equipment includes a strobe light, siren,
an LRAD / Long Range Acoustics Device for interrogating people on small boats
that lack a radio, and a 12.7mm machine-gun that includes a non-lethal laser
dazzler to temporarily blind suspicious subjects. MARSEC has been successful
at increasing security at a lower cost and using less manpower.
MARSEC is not the first such drone. For years America and China have been
competing to develop more drones similar to MARSEC. So far China has
produced the Zhu Hai Yun, a 2,000-ton ship that carries up to fifty drone
submarines, surface and airborne vehicles. Zhu Hai Yun is operated remotely to
get it out to the high seas, where the ship operates autonomously to carry out a
variety of missions it is capable of. China is depending on its
Artificial Intelligence / AI software to effectively carry out its mission and then
signal that it is returning.
The U.S. Navy has similar but smaller 145-ton unmanned surface ships that
do not carry and operate other drones, but can stay at sea for up to sixty days
carrying out Anti-Submarine Warfare / ASW missions. The navy has also developed
larger autonomous cargo ships to move supplies long distances. Smaller armed and
unarmed autonomous vessels have been in service for decades to patrol ports and
coastal areas. China believes it has a lead in AI control software and the Zhu Hai Yun
is an effort to test that. The Americans are depending on less ambitious technologies
that have produced impressive results so far, and a new Orca autonomous submarine
takes those proven concepts further than ever before.
A month before China presented the Zhu Hai Yun, the Americans received the
first of 24 Orca 80-ton Extra-Large drone / XLUUV drones that can carry and deploy
a variety of naval mines and evade enemy detection due to their small size.
Orca was the U.S. Navy solution to the difficulties with deploying offensive
mobile naval mines and a robotic submarine in enemy controlled waters, like the
South China Sea. Orca could even operate as an offensive weapon against Chinese
submarines seeking to block access to the South China Sea and Taiwan. China is
considered the major submarine threat in the Pacific and the South China Sea is
seen as a major future battleground.
Currently China has about 55 diesel-electric subs of recent design in service
versus 42 operated by Japan and South Korea, each with 21. Malaysia and Indonesia
each have two and Australia has six. The United States has about 30 nuclear attack
subs in the Pacific. The anti-China coalition also has a large array of surface and
aerial ASW forces.
To even the odds China has built a network of underwater sensors in the
South China Sea that is complemented by ASW aircraft and surface ships.
South Korea and Japan have similar technology monitoring their coastal waters.
The only nation capable of blocking Chinese subs from moving out of the
South China Sea is the United States, which has underwater sensors and a
large fleet of ASW aircraft. The problem is defeating the Chinese diesel-electric
submarine force. China has been trying to build effective SSNs for decades and
that is still a work-in-progress. Chinese non-nuclear subs are another matter and
they have become world-class.
The U.S. Navy believes robotic subs carrying mobile mines would be an
effective new ASW asset because the U.S. is already developing some of the
new ASW technology needed for this. This includes underwater drones and
mobile mines. Over a decade ago the navy adopted civilian underwater drones
used for monitoring the oceans, and has been using them to do that as well as
collect data useful for wartime submarine operations. With a growing number
of civilian and military customers, American drone developers and manufacturers
have been coming up with new ocean research drones that also have military
applications. The latest example of this is the new class of XLUUV with the
ability to go deeper, carry a cargo bay for other research gear to be stored and
deployed from, and operate autonomously for up to six months. The first of
these XLUUV was the Echo Voyager, which Boeing developed from a research
project and had the first one ready for testing in 2016. The tests were successful
and have involved more complex and completely autonomous operations.
In 2019 the navy ordered four militarized Orca versions of the Echo Voyager
for $11 million each. Both models are diesel-electric powered autonomous subs
that are 16 meters long with a payload compartment 9.1 meters long and 2.6 meters
in diameter, and is located within the pressure hull. Propulsion is by battery
powered electric motors and diesel generators to recharge the batteries when on
or near the surface. This XLUUV has no topside sail and can stay underwater for
days at a time because there is no crew on board to sustain. While submerged
these drones can move at 14 kilometers an hour and have sufficient generator fuel
to travel 10,500 kilometers. The main difference between Echo Voyager and Orca
is that Echo Voyager is built to dive to extreme 3,400 meter depths. Endurance is
over 60 days. Orca does without that but adds additional passive sensors and signal
processing computers to detect other submarines or surface ships. There is also an
underwater communications system for arming the dozen Hammerhead mobile
mines Orca is designed to carry and place on the ocean floor in areas like the
South China Sea. These Hammerhead bottom mines carry a Mk 54 lightweight
torpedo, which is normally carried by ASW helicopters and aircraft. Mk 54 has a
range of ten kilometers and a guidance system that is regularly updated.
Hammerhead is being used in a similar fashion to a larger version of this used
during the Cold War that deployed a larger Mk 48 torpedo. Hammerhead is an
encapsulated system equipped with passive sensors to detect and identify
submarines and surface ships and attack specific types of targets, like diesel-electric
subs larger than Orca.
The first Orca was delivered on time in 2022 and entered service in 2024.
The navy plans to buy as many as 24 Orcas and use them for a variety of tasks
while trying to avoid Chinese efforts to accidentally or deliberately capture one.
-- James Dunnigan
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"The Merge"
Breaking Defense
Intrigue
1440
29155
Global Recaps
Timber Sycamore
Arctic Frost
"I hate it when I'm trying to eat a salad and
it falls in the trash and I have to eat a taco instead."
-- Nicola Cavanis
***** ***** ***** Religion and Politics ***** ***** *****
Department of Government Efficiency
"John Reacts To "How YouTube Is Changing Gun Culture" In The New York Times"
by John Correia
"How YouTube Is Changing American Gun Culture" by Thomas Gibbons-Neff
"Leaked Video Of Obama Shakes DC - Democrats In A Panic" by Explain America
Obama and Biden explaining their plan to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
What Trump is actually doing.
From an email from 1440 --
"Astronauts Return Home"
NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Butch Wilmore splashed down off
the Florida coast yesterday,
concluding an unexpected nine-month stay aboard the
International Space Station. They returned on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule along
with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Originally scheduled for a 10-day mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024,
Williams and Wilmore remained on the ISS due to technical issues with the spacecraft,
including helium leaks and propulsion problems. While awaiting their return, they
integrated into the regular ISS crew rotation, contributing to scientific research and
daily operations.
See a timeline here,
During their extended stay, the pair completed 4,576 orbits of Earth, traveling more
than 121 million miles. The mission brings Williams’ career cumulative total time in
space to 608 days—the second most among US astronauts behind Peggy Whitson.
The astronauts will undergo medical evaluations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center
in Houston to assess the effects of their prolonged spaceflight.
[Why? Because NASA is incompetent. Why? Because they fired all of the
competent personnel (who happened to be heterosexual white men) and hired based
on skin color, sexual orientation, and gender dysphoria.
Elon Musk offered to bring the a astronauts home, when the problem first occurred.
Brandon refuse. Couldn't let Musk and Trump have a win. So the astronauts had to
wait until Trump become president.
Yes, elections have consequences.
-- Jon Low]
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."
-- Mary Flannery O'Connor
FREE WEBINAR --
Lowering Hiring Standards: Necessary Move or Dangerous Compromise?
Monday, April 14
Live:
10AM – Noon Central
Register at,
*NOTE: ALL registrants will receive a link to a recording of the live program.
Sponsored by: Vector Solutions
==================
Continued recruitment challenges and limited police recruit candidates are
driving agencies to lower the requirements that qualify someone to become a
police officer, including educational achievements, physical fitness abilities,
and criminal drug use history.
Some think this is necessary to provide enough officers to keep communities safe.
Others fear lowered standards will make communities less safe and open
departments with already anemic budgets to costly liability stemming from the
actions of less qualified officers.
In this FREE WEBINAR, a Calibre Press team of senior law enforcement leaders:
- LT. JIM GLENNON
- CHIEF STEVE JOHNSON
- CHIEF LIAM DUGGAN
will explore issues related to this trend. They will address complicated questions such as:
• What skills, talents and abilities prove most valuable as indicators of a future
outstanding officer?
• Is a college degree really necessary to be a police officer?
• Military and private sector experience:
Should they carry the same weight as a college degree?
• Arrest record/criminal past:
What past criminal activity is “acceptable” for a police officer to have in their
background? What isn’t?
• Physical fitness:
What standards are fair and applicable to the job? How low should the fitness bar go?
• Gender disparity:
Should men and women be expected to pass the same physical tests?
Are there concerns with the “30 by 30” initiative, practically as well as legally?
["The “30 by 30” initiative" is all about lowering standards to allow for the hiring
of more women. Metro Nashville Police Department has publicly stated that their
goal is 30% women in the department. MNPD has eliminated the physical fitness
test and replaced it with an "agility test". Fat, weak officers. But that's okay because
they identify as woman.
-- Jon Low]
• Liability concerns:
Do lower standards expose agencies to claims that they armed and empowered
someone who was not fully qualified to manage the responsibilities of a police officer?
• Once lowered, can standards ever be raised?
"Gun Owners Stop More Shootings Than Cops" by Liberty Doll
Zero incidents of armed citizens interfering with police. Zero incidents of armed
citizens getting shot.
One incident of armed citizen shooting an innocent bystander.
Four incidents of police shooting innocent bystanders. Killing other police officers
twice. And killing civilians twice.
---
"He Was Unarmed During A Mass Shooting Because Of A Gun Free Zone"
by Colion Noir
The effect of gun-free-zones is to create unarmed victims for armed criminals to
prey on. Therefore, one must conclude that the purpose of gun-free-zones is to create
unarmed victims for armed criminals to prey on. Hence, politicians who vote for
gun-free-zones are evil.
---
"Massive errors in FBI’s Active Shooting Reports from 2014-2023 regarding cases
where civilians stop attacks: Instead of 4%, the correct number is at least 35%.
Excluding gun-free zones, it averaged over 51.5%." by John Lott
In case you don't understand federal bureaucrats.
In case you don't understand Europe.
In case you don't understand the U.S. Department of Education.
In case you don't understand the Democrat party.
In case you don't understand Trump.
Trump "VOIDS" Pardons for Fauci, J6 Committee, Biden's Family . . . But Can He?
by Roman Balmakov
"HAPPENING NOW:
Media RUSHES To Manipulate Last Night's "Mass Shooting". . . Footage Proves It All A Lie"
by Langley Outdoors Academy
"I guess I'm out of a fucking job."
"BREAKING NOW:
ATF To LOSE 1/3 Of AGENTS . . . DOJ Reassigning Them To
THE BORDER SUPPORT . . . Let's GO"
by Langley Outdoors Academy
Actually 40%, 1000 out of 2600 ATF agents. I wonder if Kash Patel is moving the
shitbirds or the good agents? No, I don't. I agree, a plan is in place and progressing
smoothly. Trump is once again playing chess against the bureaucrats playing checkers.
"Sen Schumer just ended his own career 🤣"
by Decoy Voice
"The TRUTH of the Toronto Delta CRJ Crash Prelim Report!" by Taking Off
Even a squid landing at night in rough seas on an aircraft carrier would not
descend at that rate.
“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
*************************************************************************
Psychology
"WOMEN WIN this dating game: men should think twice" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
"The TRUTH about the RED PILL: what to expect on the path to understanding"
by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
My father told me that in any game (life is a game), if you don't play by the rules,
you're just playing a different game. You might be cheating, but if you do it to gain
advantage, everyone else will do it too. Now you're all playing a different game.
I refused to play board games with my kids when they were young, because my
daughter would insists that if the rules didn't forbid the behavior, it was legal. While
my son would insist that if the rules didn't explicitly allow the behavior, it was illegal.
"How To Be Someone People Love To Talk To" by Eric Barker
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Talking to persons requires you get within conversational distance. So, flossing
your teeth (to remove the stinky sticky plaque below the gum line), brushing your
teeth and all surfaces in your mouth, and maintaining a high level of personal hygiene
by scrubbing all surfaces of your body (including your scalp and soles of your feet
where dead skin and perspiration will rot if not removed daily) will help a great deal.
Clean humans smell fine to other humans. Pheromones.
Perfume is not a good idea, as what smells good to one person may not smell
good to another. (Reminding a person of another person may not be to your advantage.)
Too much perfume is definitely a bad idea. And you would be masking the pheromones,
or worse.
Anti-perspirants, especially those that contain alum, are a bad idea as they cause
your pores to seize up, preventing you from sweating. This will lead to various heat
illnesses, and perhaps death. You cannot predict when you will need to run down 37
flights of stairs to escape the fire in the building. Such a run without being able to
sweat would result in heat stroke. Such a run while carrying a loved one would
be worse.
Distilled white vinegar will prevent bacteria growth, thereby preventing odor.
The smell of vinegar disappears within minutes of application.
Truth. Not what the culture teaches. Not what feminist teach. The math is correct.
"I have PLENTY OF TIME": understanding women's timelines
by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
In case you don't understand pride.
People believe what they want to believe and
refuse to believe anything that is obnoxious to their worldview,
especially their political view.
People do what they want to do and neglect to do what they don't want to do.
So never ask a date what he plans to do or what he will do in the future. Rather,
ask him what he has done. He may lie to you, but it will be much easier to detect.
If he says, he deserves a vacation, ask him what he has done to deserve
the vacation. Has he ever served in the military? Has he ever served as a missionary?
Has he ever served anyone in any capacity? [People who think they deserve a vacation
are special; avoid them. People who actually say aloud, "I deserve a vacation."
should be avoided at all cost.]
When parents sell their kids to sex slavers, it is because the parents want to use
drugs and they don't want to take care of their kids. When people leave the rehab
centers before the end of their course, it is because they want to use drugs more
than they want to beat the addiction.
"But, they're addicted. You can't blame them."
Wrong! They chose to become addicted by taking the drugs in the first place.
No one forced them to take the drugs. In fact, they paid a great deal of money to
get the drugs. They knew exactly what they were doing.
"But they were addicted at birth, being born to addicted mothers."
Wrong! Such babies are immediately taken by the government at birth. And are
not released to a foster parents until they have been detoxed by the hospital.
When kids run away from home and are "captured" by sex slavers, they did so
to find a better life. After rescuing the kids from the sex slavers, you will never
find a child who wants to return to their biological family.
It's important to keep things in perspective and stay within reality.
If human traffickers were kidnapping kids from their homes, do you think they
would last very long? Human traffickers have far more supply than they can
handle.
Human traffickers also have far more demand than they can handle.
It's a growing industry because the profits are so high.
Refusing to understand, refusing to accept reality, will always lead to bad policy.
Usually public policy that causes the criminal profit margins to skyrocket.
Consider alcohol during Prohibition, drugs during the War on Drugs, etc.
You want to destroy a subset of the population? invite the government in to help.
You want to see exponential growth in crime? demand the government stop the crime.
The government will drive the price of the illegal goods and services through the roof.
The inelastic demand will cause the profit margins to explode. And the entrepreneurs
(criminal or legal [all pharmaceutical companies are legal]) will supply the demand.
Oh, yes, the police are involved. The police protect the bad guys. Want a first
person account?
---
"The TRUTH about the RED PILL: what to expect on the path to understanding"
by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
God does not cause you pain. Only you can do that to yourself. You may blame
others or God, but that doesn't change the fact that you caused your pain by making
stupid choices. [You chose to buy a house in a flood zone, then got flooded. You
couldn't get fire insurance (for good reason) and then were angry when the wild fires
burned your house. You knew riding a motorcycle was dangerous, but did so anyway.
You saw the red flags, ignored them, and now complain that he beats you.
Accept responsibility for the choices you made.]
God gives you lessons to allow you to change your path in life, to achieve a better
life. It's up to you to learn from the lessons or to ignore the lesson and continue
doing as you did, learning nothing. [Rebuilding your house in a flood zone, instead
of moving to higher ground. Rebuilding your house in a wild fire zone, instead of
moving to a place where the insurance company will sell you fire insurance. Etc.]
*************************************************************************
Ritchie Blackmore, "Smoke on the Water"
"History teaches us that history teaches us nothing."
-- Jim Bachmann
"Geology of The Carlsbad Caverns & How They’re Tied to The Guadalupe Mountains"
by GEO GIRL
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
Nicola Cavanis
