"If we want to preserve the shooting sports, there's nothing more important than teaching the next generation to shoot." -- Frank Jardim |
See the article in the training section.
Greetings Sheepdogs,
"Tulsi Gabbard's Message To Veterans And Those Who Serve Our Country"
Always generate large volumes of clear urine. Healthy urine is clear. Yellow urine
indicates chronic dehydration, which will eventually cause medical problems.
"Defensive Pistol" by Jonathan D. Low
ISBN: 9781311454133
Last updated on 12 August 2025 A.D.
Draft2Digital does the formatting. It's beyond my control.
If you would like the original in PDF format send me an email.
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
The newsletter is available at
which redirects to
I still have not been able to get
to work. Maybe never will.
“To those who have fought for it,
freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know.”
― P. McCree Thornton
Table of Contents:
Prevention
Mindset
Situational Awareness
Safety
Training
Psychology
Practice
Intervention
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
Postvention
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
Education
Legal
Instruction
Gear
Cryptology
Signals Intelligence
Intelligence
Religion and Politics
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
Things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of sections:
Mindset
Safety
Training
Psychology
Practice
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Mindset and Attitude --------------------------------
Figuring out the correct way to think.
"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
Dave Ramsey spoke on this at length at other night on his radio show.
"The problem is not the problem. Your problem is the symptom. The root cause of
your problem is an incorrect belief system."
---
"When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer."
-- "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
---
If you're not consistently hitting where you aim, on demand, every time,
ASK for help. (If you're zeroed at 3 yards and shooting tight groups,
but can't hit the 8 inch plate at 25 yards, you're shooting over the top of the plate,
because you don't understand the trajectory of your bullet from your pistol.
You don't aim high on long range pistol shots, you aim low.)
If you're losing fights, if you're getting into fights, ASK for help. (Let a
counselor explain to you why fighting people who show disrespect toward
you is suboptimal.)
If you're hitting stationary things with your car, getting into collisions in
traffic, and such, ASK for help. (Your phone usage, listening to stuff with
your ear phones in, not being able to see, and such will eventually get you killed.
It happens several times a day, everyday. Just listen to the reports on the radio.
I could go on for pages, but you get the idea.
“My grandfather, a cop and blooded gunfighter, was present one night when
I was a small child and had a nightmare. My parents, of course, were dedicated
to calming me down and included the old canard of "there's no such thing as monsters"
in their assurances. My grandfather later sat me down and told me there were indeed
monsters in the world. "What makes 'em scary," he told me, "is they look like
everyone else. But if you keep your eye on 'em and be on your guard . . . sooner
or later, you'll see the mask slip." ”
-- Jay Winton
Institutional inertia is a thing. Instructors can be teaching stuff that is wrong
(obsolete, suboptimal, etc.) because they have never learned that the technique
is wrong; or they know it is wrong, but the school they work for demands that
they teach it that way.
Many years ago the NRA changed from Tap-Rack-Bang to Tap-Rack-Assess.
Because every shot should be an intellectual decision, never an automatic response.
The incident that this change is usually attributed to is a police gunfight in
San Francisco in the hallway of a hotel. A little old lady walked out of her room
into the hallway. (Maybe she was deaf.) One of the police officers had a malfunction.
In his after action report, he said, "I saw her. I knew that I was not suppose to shoot
her. I shot her." He could not defeat tens of thousands of repetitions. The automatic
motor program was deeply engrained. Fortunately, the powers that be understood
that the police officer did as he had been trained to do. The homicide was not his
fault. The training was at fault. The training was wrong. That's why (most) people
don't teach Tap-Rack-Bang. Unfortunately, some do.
Oh, there are a lot of things like this. I could go on for pages. But you get the
idea. Be careful. Be willing to walk out of the class. Even if it means losing your
job.
"Oh, that would never happen to me. I know better than the little old lady."
Do you? Hundreds of persons are killed in gun accidents every year in America.
They all thought they knew better than the little old lady.
‟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
"Purpose is an essential element of you . . . the struggles along the way
are only meant to shape you for your purpose."
-- Chadwick Boseman
"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
"The Scorpion And The Frog" by Docent
"Before all else, be armed." -- Nicolo Machiavelli
"Always Be The Defender" by Shawn Vincent
Excerpt:
"Legendary lawman and use of force instructor Chuck Haggard says
“the goal of self-defense is to break contact” with an attacker.
It is not to win a fight or to kill the bad guy. The goal of self-defense
is to come out of a potentially violent confrontation unscathed."
Minnesota is a duty-to-retreat state.
---
[Retreat is a tactical maneuver. Retreat is not surrender. One can retreat to a position
of cover or tactical advantage. Retreat is not running away.
Drejka was not arrested by responding officers, because it was self-defense.
A couple of weeks later, the County Sheriff made a public statement that he would
not press charges against Drejka, because it was self-defense. That should have
been the end of it. But Drejka, in an act of criminal stupidity, went to the police
station to talk to the police for 2 hours without his attorney. (The entire interview
is on YouTube.com) There was no coercion. There was no intimidation. The police
detective just sat there saying, "Ok, . . . ok, . . . ok, . . . " The video and audio recording was
played at Drejka's trial to convict him of manslaughter resulting in a 17 year sentence.
At Drejka's age that means a life sentence. If you're stupid enough to talk to the police,
you can easily talk yourself into a conviction.
Ask any prosecuting attorney and he will tell you, the primary evidence against any
suspect is the suspect's statements. Be smart. Don't make any statements.
-- Jon Low]
"The line between everyday life and sudden violence is thinner than most realize."
-- Tim Larkin
"On your own!" by John Farnam
This the state of Massachusetts. I have tried hard to convince my daughter not
to relocate her family to Boston, MA.
"Firearms are second only to the constitution in importance,
they are the people's liberty's teeth." -- George Washington
"Be so focused on watering your grass that
you don't have time to check if someone else's is greener."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
"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
‷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
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil and
evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." -- Jeff Cooper
"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.
Children already know that dragons exist.
Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."
-- G.K. Chesterton
"Your life is as good as your mindset." -- Nicola Cavanis
The Warrior's Prayer
Dear God,
Please give us discernment to distinguish
friend from foe from innocent bystanders.
Give us clear vision so our aim is true.
Give us calm so we execute correctly.
Give us spiritual maturity so that we stop the attack
without excessive force, without revenge.
Amen
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ 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
"2 Armed Robbers Posing As Police Killed By Home Owner With A Gun"
by Colion Noir
There are hundreds of crimes committed every year in America by criminals pretending
to be police officers.
"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)
"CCW Safe & Julie Golob - Situational Awareness Part 2"
"UPDATED: Cases where armed citizens have stopped active shooter incidents"
"An officer may be forgiven for losing a battle,
but never for being taken by surprise."
-- Jeff Cooper
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ 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.
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
Randy Harris' post,
"Safety is something that happens between your ears,
not something you hold in your hands."
-- Jeff Cooper
"Willful Blindness!" by John Farnam
“Who sets himself up as judge of truth and knowledge
is shipwrecked by laughter of the gods.”
-- Edmund Burke
"It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."
-- Claude Werner
"You are not responsible for negative reactions to your boundaries."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"A mistake that makes you humble is better
than an achievement that makes you arrogant."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"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
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.
"Gut feelings are guardian angels."
-- Nicola Cavanis
*************************************************************************
Sophie Silva
------------------------------ Training --------------------------------
Figuring out the correct tasks to practice.
From an email from Tim Kelly --
"Composure Under Fire" by Tim Kelly - Apache Solutions LLC
I recently came across a reel of a pilot in distress—his aircraft was in a spin,
rapidly losing altitude.
You could hear the panic in his voice as he repeatedly
called out “Mayday,” seemingly moments away from disaster. In that moment,
he wasn’t a pilot anymore—he was a man screaming for help, overwhelmed by
fear and the chaos unfolding around him. But then something changed. A calm
voice came over the radio and walked him through two basic control inputs.
Just two. The moment he heard clear, simple instructions, he began to regain
his composure, and soon after, control of the aircraft.
That reel reminded me—painfully—of the tragic dashcam footage of
Officer Kyle Dinkheller.
For those unfamiliar, Dinkheller was a young deputy who lost his life during
a traffic stop in 1998. The footage is horrifying. Kyle is heard screaming,
panicking as the suspect retrieves a rifle and begins firing. In his final moments,
Dinkheller is shouting in terror, unable to regain control of a situation that had
spiraled far beyond what he was trained for. No calm voice came through the radio.
No one talked him through it. And unlike the pilot, Kyle didn’t survive.
I want to tread lightly here, out of deep respect for Officer Dinkheller and
his family. This is not about criticism—it’s about recognition. Recognition that
under extreme stress, our training can vanish unless it’s ingrained at a level that
allows us to function through panic. Both the pilot and the officer were trained
professionals. Both faced life-or-death situations. And both lost composure in
moments where composure was their most valuable asset.
The difference? The pilot had someone to guide him back to the basics when
he needed it most. Dinkheller was alone.
This comparison isn’t meant to reduce either situation to a training lesson or
social media content—it’s meant to spark thought. We don’t rise to the occasion—
we fall to the level of our training. And when our training is shallow, sporadic,
or outdated, panic can take the wheel. Secondly, it is important for us to realize
that no one is coming to save us. It is up to me to save my own life just like it
was up to that pilot and Officer Kyle Dinkheller to save their own lives.
This is why consistent, pressure-tested training is so vital—whether you’re behind
the wheel of a patrol car, the stick of an aircraft, walking into a grocery store or
walking into a classroom to teach others how to protect themselves and others.
We must not only train the techniques—we must train our minds to access those
techniques under pressure.
Composure isn’t a switch you flip. It’s a skill you build. And sometimes,
it’s as simple as hearing a calm voice remind you of what you already know.
But you have to be ready to hear it, and that voice has to be your own.
-- Tim Kelly
[My son and Tim served in the Marine Corps together. I last saw Tim
and his crew at Tac Con. -- Jon Low]
"The primary role of all law enforcement training is to shift liability
from the agency on to the individual officer."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"How to prepare for the Rangemaster Instructor Course?" by Aqil Qadir
I’m assisting Tom Givens at the Instructor Development Course in Nashville
this weekend. I’ve done this many times and I still leave with pages of notes.
After assisting Tom for years I’m convinced that taking the Rangemaster
Combative Pistol Course is an excellent precursor to the Instructor Course.
That class will expose you to Tom’s TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures)
and his pace.
Some wonder if they’re “ready” for the Instructor Course. Taking the
Combative Pistol course is the best way to find out. You’ll learn what, if anything,
you need to work on to be adequately prepared.
"Most folks would be much better off if they invested extra cash in
practice ammo and training than another firearm."
-- Greg Ellifritz
Email from Jeff L. Gonzales --
Hello Jonathan,
Improving your shooting ability isn’t just about time on the range — it also depends
heavily on the strength, stability, and conditioning of your body. Incorporating the right
physical training can help enhance grip endurance, reduce fatigue, and increase precision
under stress. By adding functional strength exercises that mimic the demands of shooting,
you’ll gain more control over your shooting performance. Below are three advantageous
physical feats you can train to improve your shooting.
Heavy Farmer’s Carry-This exercise builds grip strength, forearm endurance, and
overall core stability. Carrying heavy weights for distance also mimics the demands
of holding a firearm steady over long periods, helping improve control and reducing
hand fatigue during shooting.
Plank Variations (Front and Side)-Planks develop strong core stability, which is
essential for controlling recoil and maintaining shooting posture. A strong core also
reduces unnecessary sway and keeps your upper body locked in during aiming and
follow-through.
Pull-Ups-Pull-ups improve back, shoulder, and arm strength—key muscle groups
for maintaining a stable shooting platform. They also enhance endurance in the upper
body, making it easier to manage firearm handling and repeated firing.
Try this the next time you are looking for a quick and easy workout. Carry heavy
dumbbells for 60 seconds straight, repeat 3x. Then go right into weighted planks for
90 seconds with alternating shoulder taps, repeat 2x. Then finish with a max effort
weighted pull-ups in 2:00. Should take you less than 10 minutes total. Done 2–3
times per week, it pushes both shooting performance and overall physical resilience
to a higher level.
Each of these exercises also contributes significantly to overall health. The farmer’s
carry strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves posture, and supports joint
stability, all of which help prevent injury in daily life. Planks not only protect the spine
by reinforcing core muscles but also improve balance and coordination. Pull-ups build
functional upper body strength, support joint mobility, and increase bone density, which
benefits long-term health and resilience.
By incorporating the heavy farmer’s carry, plank variations, and pull-ups into your
training, you’ll build the grip, core, and upper body strength needed for better shooting
control and endurance.
Good luck out there,
JLG
P.S. Feel free to share this with any like-minded folks who might benefit.
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)
Garrett Matson's post
AAR: Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Development
Rangemaster
Nashville, TN
August 15-17, 2025
"Most deadly force encounters occur spontaneously, without warning and
at extremely close ranges. Realistically, you may not have the time or the
space to effectively draw, no matter how fast your drawstroke."
-- Jeff L. Gonzales
"Self-Preservation: Confronting The Unthinkable"
by Alex Ooley
Excerpt:
"Walk like a meerkat. Scan overtly. Look people in the eyes. Criminals,
he explained, don’t want to be seen. If they think you saw them, that alone
can often break the attack cycle. Awareness, even more than armament, can
be your most potent form of defense."
". . . Are you psychologically prepared to act with violence if you must?
Not just draw and shoot, but strike, claw, gouge or even beat someone to
death with a blunt object . . ."
". . . mental scripts to visualize the level of force we might need to use
and to grow comfortable with it — not because we want to use violence,
but because when it is necessary, hesitation can be fatal."
"For those in the gun world who obsess over drills, groupings and gear,
Aprill’s message was both a challenge and a wake-up call:
If you’re not training your mind, you’re only halfway prepared."
"Train your mind to embrace awareness as a constant task, cultivate the
ruthlessness needed for counterassault and embody the principles of
deselection — projecting strength and vigilance to deter predators.
By internalizing these lessons, you become hard to kill, hard to fool and
the kind of person a violent criminal actor passes by, choosing an easier
target instead."
"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
"Teaching the Next Generation to Shoot
How I Trained My Kids"
by Frank Jardim
Hat tip to Tom McHale.
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Performance Shooting and the Esoterica Dokkōdō Deep Dive with K.A. Clark"
by Sherman House
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
“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
"Gun & Prepping News #44" by Docent
Excerpts:
"In the Modern Era, Iron Sights Aren’t Marksmanship Fundamentals"
by Matt Robertson
"Shot Placement: Simple But Realistic Targeting"
by Dave Spaulding
Excerpt:
One, every time you enter conflict you run the risk of losing. Being highly
trained is an advantage, but it doesn’t mean you will always prevail.
Two, while the human organism is not hard to kill, it can be difficult to stop
quickly. To do this, you must violate specific areas of the body that are small
and might require multiple hits. It’s true that any hit can stop an attacker, but
there are few locations that ensure rapid incapacitation.
An instructor once told me, “There are few problems a .80 [second] draw won’t fix.”
It won’t fix the 3 to 5 second lag time to recognize an in-progress attack.
"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
"That's A Thing, Episode 4- A Three For One!" by Citizen-Defender (John Murphy)
"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
"Why Your Eyes Lie: Understanding Visual Perception in a Gunfight"
by Rick Billington
"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
"4 Self-Defense Areas to Target That Everyone Should Know" by Tim Larkin
Intelligence (knowing where to strike and striking that particular target correctly)
beats non-targeted brute force every time.
Carotid artery? No, I don't think so. It was the vagus nerve on the side of the neck.
"Start slow and deliberate."
"In reality, we are training for an unknown event, against unknown threats,
by developing as many known skills as possible."
-- Jeff Gonzales
"SWAT Raid or Home Invasion?" by Greg Ellifritz
"Having a gun is important.
But knowing WHEN to use it is even more important."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"36 Lessons for Armed Defenders" by Shawn Vincent
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Psychology --------------------------------
"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
The overview,
"On Human Nature(s): Dr. Marc Green’s Framework for Understanding Force Encounters"
byVon Kliem, JD, LL.M
The primary source,
"On Human Nature(s) 1: Orientation Toward Behavior" by Marc Green
"On Human Nature(s) 2: System 1 vs. System 2" by Marc Green
"On Human Nature(s) 3: Affordances, Heuristics and Biases, and Schemata" by Marc Green
"On Human Nature(s) 4: Kopfkino, Predictive Coding, and Emotion" by Marc Green
"On Human Nature(s) 5: Applying the Kludges in Case Analysis" by Marc Green
Other papers by Marc Green,
"33 Reasons For Not Seeing" by Marc Green
Other papers,
Kevin O'Leary on Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.
My managers at Lockheed Martin would tell me the customers don't know what
they want. You (we engineers) have to tell them.
If you want to progress in your training, you must have a high signal to noise ratio.
Otherwise, you're wasting your time. You won't think so because you're having fun.
Email from Orion Taraban, Psy.D. --
"Make it."
Wednesday, August 27th, 2025
When I was in acting school, I studied a technique known as the Grotowski method.
The Grotowski method presumes a bi-directional relationship between body and mind.
Rather than seek to align with the character from the inside out, actors who follow the
Grotowski method strive to inspire the character from the outside in.
This approach is based on the understanding that the mind doesn't know when it's
pretending. If the body walks around with hunched shoulders and downcast eyes,
then the person inside the body will begin to feel depressed. On the other hand, if the
body struts about with an upright spine and a piercing gaze, then the person inside the
body will begin to feel confident. The psychological change is inevitable and inescapable.
By manipulating the posture of your body, the expression of your mask, the placement
of your eyes, the cadence of your movements, you will find that you have far greater
control over your emotions than you may have previously believed.
This is – ultimately – why “fake it til you make it” works. Fake it long enough, and the
mind will forget that it's supposed to be pretending.
So be careful what you choose to act as.
This week's behavioral experiment:
Consider how you might be play-acting a role that you've outgrown.
Make appropriate changes.
Warmly,
Orion
“Training deals not with an object,
but with the human spirit and human emotions.”
--Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Conferences --------------------------------
Attending classes and conferences is required for 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 Bulletproof House of Worship Safety Conference
Poster,
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, SEPTEMBER 18 - 20, 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, OCTOBER 17, 2025
TFALAC’s 2025 Annual Event
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Farm Bureau Expo Center at the
James E. Ward Agricultural Center on the
Wilson County Fairgrounds.
945 East Baddour Parkway
Lebanon, Tennessee 37087
Bullets & Bibles Conference, $750
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.
Guardian Conference, $800
September 19th - 21st, 2025
in Oklahoma City, OK.
40th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference! Free.
Sept. 26 - 28 in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the
Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek.
Combatives Association Summit, $899.00
October 24 - 26, 2025
D'Iberville, Mississippi
Register at
Rangemaster Tactical Conference, $639
TacCon26 is scheduled for
March 27-29, 2026
at the Dallas Pistol Club in Carrollton, Texas
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Classes --------------------------------
Attending classes and conferences is required to avoid teaching
obsolete material, and to ensure you are teaching best practices.
"Just Get Home!" by John Murphy
What is “gateway instruction”?
Firearms Instructor Development, $795
Fri, Aug 22, 2025, 9:00 AM CDT – Sun, Aug 24, 2025, 6:00 PM CDT
Royal Range, 7741 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN, USA
Applied Defensive Handgun Skills - Ogden UT, John Holschen
Date: August 30-31, 2025
Facility: Weber Country Shooting Sports Complex
Location: 2446 Rulon White Blvd, Ogden UT 84404
Firearms Instructor Development, $ 795
Fri, Sep 19, 2025, 9:00 AM EDT – Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 6:00 PM EDT // 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CDT
Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsmen, 505 Mosside Blvd, North Versailles, PA, USA
Combative Pistol, $495
Sat, Oct 25, 2025, 9:00 AM EDT – Sun, Oct 26, 2025, 6:00 PM EDT // 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CDT
Cohutta Pines Gun Range, 367 Old Highway 2, Cisco, GA, USA
(East of Chattanooga, TN.)
Cognitive Conclave, $550
Erick Gelhaus, John Hearne, John Holschen, and Lee Weems
Date/Time: October 25-26, 2025. 8:00am - 5:00pm
Facility: Red Hill Range
Location: 2238 Toms Creek Rd, Martin GA 30577
"Just Get Home!" by John Murphy, $495.00
use code "JGH HOME RANGE" for $95 discount, total $400.
Saturday - 11/1/2025 to Sunday - 11/2/2025
Time: 0830-1700
Duration: 5 hours video "view ahead", 16 hours practical experience and range time
Location: Citizen-Defender Home Range (Culpeper, VA)
Firearms Instructor Development, $ 795
Fri, Nov 7, 2025, 9:00 AM EST – Sun, Nov 9, 2025, 6:00 PM EST // 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CST
Tall Palms Ranch Range, 1421 Fish Hatchery Rd, Lakeland, FL, United States
Intensive Pistol Skills, $495
Sat, Nov 8, 2025, 9:00 AM CST – Sun, Nov 9, 2025, 6:00 PM CST
2220 Wilson Hill Rd, Lewisburg, Tennessee, United States
(About an hour south of Nashville, just off I-65.)
"Advanced Defensive Handgun" by John Farnam
08 - 09 November 2025 A.D.
Nashville, TN (well, actually a bit north in Cross Plains, TN)
Venue: Deer Hollow Fire Arms Training
Firearms Instructor Development Course, $ 795
Fri, Nov 21, 2025, 9:00 AM CST – Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 6:00 PM CST
Denton Police Range, 4111 Vintage Blvd, Argyle, TX, USA
Annual Rangemaster Instructor Conference, $495 (for Rangemaster instructors)
Sat, Dec 6, 2025, 9:00 AM CST – Sun, Dec 7, 2025, 6:00 PM CST
Royal Range, 7741 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN, USA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Massad Ayoob Group
Blog
West Coast Armory North, John Holschen
Law of Self Defense, Andrew Branca
live online class upcoming dates
September 27, 2025
Active Response Training (Greg Ellifritz)
Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Map of Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Dustin Salomon
KR Training
Kari Grayson
Citizens Safety Academy
Carry Trainer, Mickey Schuch
Paladin Training, Inc.
Citizen-Defender, John Murphy
Virginia Private Firearms Training (for private lessons), 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
Classes,
Mike Seeklander
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
For the first time, the Combatives Association will host an Instructor Development Day as part
of the 2025 Combatives Summit.
This one-day course will be taught by Craig Douglas, Matt Larsen, and Kelly McCann.
Each will cover their approach to developing instructors, scaling training, and preparing
students for real violence.
At the end of the day, participants will be awarded the first-ever Combatives Association
Instructor Development Certificate.
Seats are capped at 16 total. 12 are already filled. Only 4 remain.
Cost is $497.
If you want to be part of this inaugural group, message me directly to secure your spot.
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Practice --------------------------------
How to get proficient at that task.
"Practice your shooting by doing exactly the same thing,
exactly the same way, every time, until it is completely automatic."
-- Duaine Zeitz
I was at Royal Range to do the live fire qualification for renewal of my armed guard
license. After that I hung around to shoot the IDPA match with the Average Joe Shooter's
club. (I saw Tom Givens setting up his classroom for tomorrow's Instructor Development
class.) I came in last. Only the three DNF (did not fire) no shows were listed after me.
But I did clean 2 of the 4 stages. So, I'm happy. I did get one procedural penalty for
shooting the targets right to left (instead of left to right) when shooting around the left
side of a barrier. Don't remember how I did it or why I did it, but the RSO clearly
saw me do it. Just a reminder to me that in a stressful situation, one can get false
memories and amnesia. It doesn't take much stress at all. Magicians take advantage of
this all the time. Don't deceive yourself into thinking that what you remember happening
is what happened. Because it often isn't. That's why attorneys advise their clients to
keep their mouth's shut. DON'T SAY ANYTHING! What you say won't match the video.
So, now you've been caught in a lie. It doesn't matter that you would have passed a
polygraph test. It doesn't matter what you believed. Even with an expert witness
explaining your false memories, you're going to have a hard time convincing a jury that
you were not lying. Don't take the chance. Keep your mouth shut.
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant 1960-1963
This article is about practice, not training.
"Make Handgun Training Fun Again" by Richard A. Mann
---
Back in Hawaii decades ago, there was a fencing teacher at Punahou School who
instead of calling out commands such as "advance", "lunge", "retreat", "balestra", etc.,
he would call out "1", "5", "3", etc. He thought that it was a good idea to force the
students to think and translate his numbers to actions.
This is bad teaching. He created an unnecessary and counterproductive indirection.
This violates tenets of adult learning theory (actually all learning theory).
[Do you know how to pronounce "tenet"?
American Heritage is a scholarly dictionary and correct.
Why is that important? Because by pronouncing the work incorrectly,
you are saying a different word. Which will cause your audience to be
confused.]
"Remember, growing may feel like breaking at first."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"You have to be lucky to win. And the more you practice, the luckier you get."
-- Col. Lones Wigger
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
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
"People rust faster than equipment."
-- John Hearne
"Remember, the day you plant the seed is not the day you earn the fruit."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"There is no glory in practice, but without practice there is no glory."
-- Jeff Gonzales
‟Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous.”
-- Sara Ahrens, ‶Shooting in Self-Defense″
"Your speed doesn't matter. Forward is forward."
-- Nicola Cavanis
*************************************************************************
Playing in the sand
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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.
“How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.”
-- John Farnam
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
"Never let fear decide your fate."
-- Nicola Cavanis
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Tactics --------------------------------
Maneuver and fire in support of your strategy.
"Ineffective and potentially dangerous, point shooting should be avoided at all costs
and aimed fire employed in any lethal-force scenario."
-- Massad Ayoob
"How to Use Cover, Tactics for Self-Defense" by Travis Pike
Hat tip to Docent.
"You often don't know where the bad guy is who is shooting at you."
-- Phillip Groff
"Cover vs. Concealment: Don’t Let Cover Become Your Coffin" by Jeff Gonzales
Hat tip to Docent.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
"Likely Outcomes!" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
“I recommend shooting attackers in the head.
I’ve seen too many people put-up a strenuous fight in the ER,
long after being shot in the chest!”
-- Trauma Nurse (and one of my students)
“People shoot you because they see you.
They see you because you let them.
Don’t let them see you.”
-- Clint Smith
"The Most Underrated Self Defense Target" by Tim Larkin
When shooting to the side of the head, I had been taught to target the external auditory
meatus (the hole of the ear) on the theory that it is the only opening in the skull, so that
gives the highest probability of getting your bullet into the brain. But, targeting the side
of the neck below the ear will damage the carotid artery, jugular vein, vagus nerve, and
phrenic nerve. So that may be a better target.
"Without discrimination,
you're going to shoot the wrong person really fast."
-- Paul Howe
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
“When you’re in the dark, stay in the dark;
when you’re in the light, light up the dark.”
-- Stephen P. Wenger
"Be stronger than your strongest excuse."
-- Nicola Cavanis
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, U.S. Navy
"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?
“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.)
". . . only shoot as fast as you can assess, and . . . assess after each shot,
both of which we should be training to do all the time anyway."
-- Ralph Mroz, "Street Focused Handgun Training"
"Superior judgment trumps superior skills." -- Dan Millican
"Real fights are short." -- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Techniques --------------------------------
Ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress.
“What’s the number one reason for reloading?
Missing the target!”
-- Claude Werner
Being able to squat is really important.
"Grip first, then press."
-- Mike Seeklander
"The One Technique Gun Owners SHOULD NOT USE according to Massad Ayoob"
by Gun Owners Radio
Sul (south in Portuguese)
You've lost your two handed grip. Better would be to maintain your two handed
grip, rotate from the elbows, and point your pistol down at the ground in front of you.
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Rapid Reloads For Revolvers" by Kevin McPherson
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Unfortunately, no text or pictures to show you how to reload one handed.
A way I learned in an NRA Personal Protection class (years ago before it
bifucated into Inside the Home and Outside the Home):
Right-hand-only, open the cylinder by pressing release with thumb,
point barrel up and jerk to cause the shells to fall out, (push ejection rod up
against the underside of your jaw if the shells won't fall out by themselves),
trap the barrel against a wall with your shoulder to hold the revolver in place,
insert the new cartridges, establish grip, release pressure from your shoulder,
twist forearm with a snap to close cylinder.
For left-hand-only, open the cylinder by pressing release with index finger,
point barrel up and jerk to cause the shells to fall out, (push ejection rod up
against the underside of your jaw if the shells won't fall out by themselves),
trap the barrel inside your belt against your body, insert the new cartridges,
establish grip, withdraw revolver from inside your belt, twist forearm with a
snap to close cylinder.
---
"Tips To Make Revolvers More Speedloader-Friendly" by Kevin McPherson
If the stocks interfere with loading, remove the left stock (unless you've got
a really special custom left-handed action), cut it, grind it, sand it, seal it, polish it,
and replace it on the revolver. Ya, it is that simple. Not, easy. Simple.
"Denn jedes Mal, wenn was geht, ist Platz für Neues.
Und wenn es gestern nicht sein soll, dann klappt es heut 🦋"
-- Nicola Cavanis
There are many techniques for doing any given task.
Search and experiment until you find one that works for you.
"The foundations of your grip are established
before you even draw the pistol from the holster."
-- Tanner Denton
"Why are the little things called little things?
They are everything."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"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
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
“16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.”
Hat tip to K. A. Clark.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In the right hand column 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
“Your understanding and consent are not required
for someone to take your life, kill your loved ones,
and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Medical --------------------------------
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified, $495.00
Tracey Mendenhall | VP of Operations
(Life Saving Ninja)
DEFEND SYSTEMS
www.defendsystems.com
(615) 480-7758
“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
*************************************************************************
Полина Kulakova Polina
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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
Citizen-Defender, John Murphy
Rangemaster Newsletter, Tom Givens
Active Self Protection, John Correia
"My Gun Culture" by Tom McHale
Quips, John Farnam
Active Response Training, Greg Ellifritz
The Tactical Professor, Claude Werner
American Handgunner Magazine
Tactical Science
International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors
Alien Gear blog
Shooting Classes Blog
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Legal --------------------------------
“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
Justice
Do you understand?
"Tennessee’s “intent to go armed” and “parks” statutes declared unconstitutional"
by John Harris
This is fantastic news!
---
"Did the Court's declaration of the “intent to go armed” and “parks” statutes as
unconstitutional establish constitutional carry in Tennessee?" by John Harris
"GOOD NEWS! Department of Justice Drops Appeal of Unconstitutional Carry Ban!"
by Guns & Gadgets 2nd Amendment News
Carry in Post Offices is okay. At least for the defendant. For the rest of us? Who knows.
"Kayla Giles' murder conviction reversed, vacated - what next and will the prideful fall?"
by Legally Armed America
---
"Kayla Giles Case Gets a MASSIVE UPDATE!" by Attorneys On Retainer
---
"The FULL Kayla Giles Story You Need to Know - July 2025 Update"
by Attorneys On Retainer
The trial judge gave the jury an instruction for which there was no evidence.
The trial judge did not give the jury an instruction that was required by law;
presumption of reasonableness.
The trial judge gave the defendant a 30 year sentence for obstruction of justice.
Pretty incompetent / corrupt judge. Wonder why I can't find his name?
More evidence of ATF corruption.
"Hey, ATF! Nothing you found in Tate Adamiak’s home is illegal"
by Lee Williams
Notice that none of the ATF agents came forward to testify for Adamiak.
Keeping their mouths shut is just as corrupt as telling lies. The ATF agents
knew the charges were false and did nothing. That is corruption.
"Trump and/or the Department of Justice Are Lying To Gun Owners!"
by Guns & Gadgets 2nd Amendment News
"Trump's DOJ Caught Defending Zero Tolerance in Court!" by Liberty Doll
"BREAKING:
ICE CRACKDOWN 40+ MS-13 Gang Members Arrested in Long Island Takedown"
by Melanie King
"Common Self-Defense Mistakes People Make!" by Attorneys On Retainer
Do not go into the situation in the first place. Best to avoid the situation.
Keep your mouth shut.
Threat has to be imminent. You don't have to wait for the guy to punch you in the face.
You might die from that.
Some states have a duty to retreat. How can you retreat in complete safety while
facing an imminent threat? Hard to imagine such a circumstance. But if you can
safely retreat, it's the smart thing to do.
Aggressor doctrine. Don't be an aggressor. If you were the aggressor, you have to
withdraw and communicate.
Display of firearm.
You don't have to touch anyone to be guilty of aggravated assault. The law ain't what
you think it is.
Warning shots are illegal. You won't get the self-defense jury instruction. If you
had time to fire a warning shot, you were not in an imminent threat.
[In the Marine Corps, we were taught to use lethal force to protect classified material.
So the blanket statement that you can't use lethal force to protect property is not quite
true.
-- Jon Low]
Marc J. Victor says he willing to get punched in the face. The problem with this
thinking is that that one punch may be enough to kill him or incapacitate him or
render him bed ridden for the rest of his life. Another problem is that you have no
way of knowing that the bad guy will stop after one punch. The bad guy may continue
to stomp you until you are dead. Letting someone punch you is stupid. Don't allow it.
Reasonable minds differ as to what is reasonable.
Marc J. Victor says modifications to your firearm has not been a factor in the
30 years of his self-defense law practice. Now, engraving stupid sayings is a different
matter; that goes to mens rea (criminal intent, state of mind).
Just shut up. If you can't keep your mouth shut, state unequivocally, "I want my lawyer."
Secure your firearm before the police arrive. [Holster and conceal. As Ed Monk says,
"You'll be on your third cigarette before the police arrive." -- Jon Low]
Getting arrested is no big deal. Be concerned with the next 30 years of your life.
Keep your mouth shut. Anything you say will become the WRONG legal theory. And
you'll be stuck with it at trial. Just shut up.
The cop testifying that you requested your attorney is not admissible in court. It is
an argument for a mistrial. (Depending on how corrupt the judge is. Kayla Giles had
a very corrupt judge. Who had a very strong affiliation with the "victim's" family.)
Rachel Moss lists several stupid things to do with your firearm after a shooting.
The correct thing to do is holster and conceal. So the cops don't shoot you.
Just shut up and don't get shot. Get expert experienced attorneys on your defense.
"SAY WHAT? Glock Is Asking States To Pass Gun Control!"
by Guns & Gadgets 2nd Amendment News
"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
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Instruction --------------------------------
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
----- 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
The following is true of churches, firearms training classes, and just about all
organizations.
"People belong, then they believe, then they behave."
So make your students feel they belong in your class, in your community, etc.
Then they will believe what you are teaching. Then they incorporate your teachings
into their behaviors.
“The student’s purpose is to expand their body of knowledge and social network.
The instructor’s purpose is to help the student achieve the student’s goals.”
-- Amy Schwartz
To listen to your student, you must be quiet and not interrupt.
"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
Never say, "That's a great question." No one cares about your opinion of the question.
You're wasting time. Answer the question.
Never say, "I mean . . ."
Never say, "You know . . ."
Never say, "Um . . ."
Never say, "Ahh . . . "
Never say, "Well, I was thinking . . ."
Silence is better. Your audience will think that you are thinking.
If you use filler words, your audience will feel the lowered information density
of your speech.
Executives (the real, high paid, competent ones, not the woke idiots) have
extremely high information density when they speak. So they speak very little
and convey a lot. Do likewise.
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
“Qui docet, discet.” (Who teaches, learns.)
-- American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
-- Richard Henry Dana
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith
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
"You must teach skill sustainment as part of training."
-- John Hearne
"You don't have to memorize formulae.
Because you can always derive them from first principles."
-- Sven Hartman
[So teach principles, not formulae.]
"Thinking is the hardest thing a person can do.
That's why so few people do it."
-- Henry Ford
"Your curriculum needs to be recent, relevant, and realistic."
-- Austin Killmer
"The limited time you spend with students may be the only training they ever receive!"
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
----- Students -----
"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
“It may seem difficult at first but everything is difficult at first.”
-- Miyamota Mushashi
"It's better to be wrong than to be vague."
-- Freeman Dyson
[If you are wrong, the instructor can correct you. If you are vague, no one can help you.]
"Growth is uncomfortable because you've never been there before."
-- 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
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Gear --------------------------------
And the safe storage thereof.
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Shooting Full-Size Pistols with Small Hands – Top 6 Tricks for Grip & Control"
by Danielle Valkyrie
To control the recoil, use the Weaver position; push with the firing-side, pull with
the support-side bicep. Yes, it is that simple. Not easy, simple.
You can't use your pinkies (little fingers) if your grip is too short. Solution?
Use a pistol with a full length grip.
If you can't reach the trigger with your trigger finger, have a gunsmith move the
trigger. Yes, as a matter of fact, a competent gunsmith can move the trigger on any
pistol. The 1911s are especially easy, but the trigger can be moved on any pistol.
"Die BESTE Pistole für KLEINE HÄNDE - 8 Waffen im Test mit Danielle Valkyrie"
by Austria Arms
"There are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous men."
-- Robert A. Heinlein
"All About Hollow Point Bullets" by Richard A. Mann
"Real-World Testing Reveals Critical Safety Issues with Car Holsters"
by Jacob Paulsen
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Cycle Interrupted" by Erick Gelhaus
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Self-Defense is Open Division"
-- Jeremy Clough
"The Pros and Cons of Purse Carry" by Tammy Bartels
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"The Budget Revolution: Are Quality Handguns Becoming More Affordable?"
by Jacob Paulsen
"Industry Update!" by John Farnam
DTI’s discount code at Defiant is DTI25
“Chinese use two virtually identical brush-strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’
One represents danger
The other, opportunity!”
-- JFK
The Collector and the Calger Ranch.
The Collector built that for 2.5 million dollars (U.S). Makes me wonder where all
of the money at Front Sight went. Just joking. All Ponzi schemes eventually go
bankrupt. Good to see that PrairieFire took over Front Sight's property in Pahrump, NV.
"Detailed 1911 Trigger Action Demonstration" by Engineer's Armory
"Downloadable targets" by Louis Charles Candell
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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.
"Three Cool Things in C++26: Safety, Reflection & std::execution -
Herb Sutter - C++ on Sea 2025" by cpponsea
"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
Excerpts from "The Colossal Book of Mathematics" by Martin Gardner. ---
---
"The road to wisdom?
Well it's plain & simple to express.
Err and err and err again
but less and less and less."
-- Piet Hein
Page 72.
---
From John S. Harris of Brigham Young University, English Department --
As I examined Alexander Keewatin Dewdney's planiversal [effectively as close
to 2-dimensional as we can get in our 3-dimensional world -- Jon Low]
devices in Martin Gardner's article on science and technology in a two-dimensional
universe, I was struck with the similarity of the mechanisms to the lockwork of the
Mauser military pistol of 1895. This remarkable automatic pistol (which had
many later variants) had no pivot pins or screws in its functional parts. Its entire
operation was through sliding cam surfaces and two-dimensional sockets (called
hinges by Dewdney). Indeed, the lockwork of a great many firearms, particularly
those of the 19th century, follows essentially planiversal principles. For example
see the cutaway drawings in "Book of Pistols and Revolvers" by W.H.B. Smith.
Gardner suggests an exhibit of machines cut from cardboard, and that is
exactly how the firearms genius John Browning worked. He would sketch the
parts of a gun on paper or cardboard, cut out the individual parts with scissors
(he often carried a small pair in his vest pocket), and then would say to his
brother Ed, "Make me a part like this." Ed would ask, "How thick, John?"
John would show a dimension with his thumb and forefinger, and Ed would
measure the distance with calipers and make the part. The result is that virtually
every part of the 100 or so Browning designs is essentially a two-dimensional
shape with an added thickness.
This planiversality of Browning designs is the reason for the obsolescence
of most of them. Dewdney says in his enthusiasm for the planiverse that "such
devices are invariably space-saving." They are also expensive to manufacture.
The Browning designs had to be manufactured by profiling machines:
cam-following vertical milling machines. In cost of manufacture such designs
cannot compete with designs that can be produced by automatic screw-cutting
lathes, by broaching machines, by stamping, or by investment casting. Thus
although the Browning designs have a marvelous aesthetic appeal, and although
they function with delightful smoothness, they have nearly all gone out of
production. They simply got too expensive to make.
-- John S. Harris
Page 109.
---
A circle rotates around a central point, a sphere rotates around a central line,
a 4-dimensional sphere rotates around a central plane. In general the axis of a
rotating n-sphere is a space of n-2. (The 4-sphere is capable, however, of a
peculiar double rotation that has no analogue in 2-space or 3-space: it can spin
simultaneously around two fixed planes that are perpendicular to each other.)
[Can you visualize it? -- Jon Low]
Page 138.
---
. . . an event that is less frequent in the long run is likely to happen before
a more frequent event. There is no logical contradiction involved here, but it
does show that "average waiting time" has peculiar properties.
Page 305.
---
All his life Cantor tried to prove that there is no aleph between aleph-null
(the cardinality of the Integers) and C (the cardinality of the continuum,
Real numbers), but he never found a proof.
In 1938 Kurt Gödel showed that Cantor's conjecture, which became known
as the Continuum Hypothesis, could be assumed to be true, and that this could
not conflict with the axioms of set theory.
What Cohen proved in 1963 was that the opposite could also be assumed.
One can posit that C is not aleph-one; that there is at least one aleph between
aleph-null and C . . .
Cantor's hypothesis is undecidable.
Page 334.
[By convention / tradition when you generate the set of all subsets of a set, S,
of cardinality aleph-x the resultant set, T, has cardinality aleph-x+1. I have never
read a paper giving a construction of a set of cardinality between aleph-x and
aleph-x+1. I have never read a paper giving a construction of a set whose cardinality
is greater than aleph-x+1. The set of all subsets construction always jumps to the
cardinality aleph-x+1.
Just as denial of the Parallel Postulate in Euclidean geometry gave us elliptical
and hyperbolic geometry, so denial of the Continuum Hypothesis could give us
new set theories. At least I hope so.
While I'm ranting, let me mention the Banach-Tarski construction. The popular
media says it's mind blowing and such. It is not. There are many ways to state the
"paradox" to the layman. It is usually described as partitioning the sphere (or any
solid 3-dimensional object) into a finite number of subsets (last I heard, 5 subsets
are sufficient). The subsets can be combined to form two spheres each of equal
volume to the original sphere. The partitioning is fairly complex and the subsets
are not constructible sets. Is this amazing? No.
Consider the integers on the number line. Map every even integer to a new
line and divide its value by 2. Your new number line is now isomorphic (exactly
the same) as the old number line. You've doubled the number line. Amazing. Not.
Admittedly, Banach-Tarski did the construction in a 3-dimensional space of Real
numbers. So they had to use some interesting set theory and forcing. Forcing is
a technical term for a technical thing mathematicians do in set theory.
Should you be impressed? No. I studied it in math grad school. It's not that
big a deal.
-- Jon Low]
---
If all the points in Euclidean three-dimensional space are two-colored, will it force
an equilateral triangle of any size? Yes. Consider the four points of any regular
tetrahedron. No matter how the points are two-colored, at least three must be the
same color (Really? Why? -- Jon Low), and of course those three will form a
monochromatic equilateral triangle.
Page 451.
[I hate it when authors take it for granted that one of their statements is obvious.
NOTHING is obvious. Especially when the statement is false. "Any" regular
tetrahedron may well have two red vertices and two blue vertices.
So what Gardner means is that we can always find a monochromatic equilateral
triangle of any size in the two-colored space. Not that we define one by choosing
any tetrahedron.
Hold the two red points fixed. Rotate the tetrahedron around the line defined by
the two red vertices. If you hit a red point with one of the vertices that are tracing
a circle around the red line, you've got your monochromatic triangle. If not, you've
got a blue circle on which there is an equilateral triangle.
I seem to remember this type of question was on the Math Olympiad one year.
We studied such in math undergrad.
-- Jon Low]
---
Is it possible to expand our universe of discourse to the ultimate and call it the
set of all possible sets? No, this is a step we cannot take without contradiction.
Georg Cantor proved that the cardinal number of any set (the number of its elements)
is always lower than the cardinal number of the set of all its subsets. This is obvious
for any finite set (if it has n elements, it must have 2ⁿ subsets), but Cantor was able
to show that it also applies to infinite sets. . . . The set of all sets must have the
highest aleph (infinity number) for its cardinality; otherwise it would not be everything.
On the other hand, it cannot have the highest aleph because the cardinality of its
subsets is higher.
Page 612.
[There are all kinds of other logical contradictions that arise from the set of all sets.
So in modern set theory the set of all sets would be considered a class, not a set.
Classes are things bigger than sets, from which you can draw elements to form a well
defined set. -- Jon Low]
---
A sphere cannot be tessellated with hexagons.
If a sphere is tessellated with hexagons and pentagons, there must 12 pentagons,
no more and no fewer. [Consider the Adidas soccer ball. 20 hexagons and 12
pentagons. Consider the buckyball (a molecule made of 60 atoms of carbon at
the vertices of a soccer ball.) -- Jon Low]
If a sphere is tessellated with hexagons and triangles, there must be an even number
of hexagons and exactly four triangles.
Page 655.
---
636,318,657 = 134⁴ + 133⁴ = 158⁴ + 59⁴
[There are lots of these. Do you see how you can use such in your cryptology?
Easy to verify, hard to find. -- Jon Low]
Page 666.
---
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote, "Regis Iustu Cantio et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta"
on a sheet of music that he sent to Frederick the Great.
Page 669.
---
For values less than 10¹⁰, there are 4,724 solutions to the equation
Aⁿ + Bⁿ = Cⁿ + Dⁿ
where n = 3 and A ≠ B ≠ C ≠ D ≠ A ≠ C and B ≠ D.
The largest is
1,956³ + 1,360³ = 2,088³ + 964³ = 9,998,986,816 < 10¹⁰ .
This gives you two party communication without sharing a key.
Of the 4,724 solutions, 26 are triples, the smallest being
414³ + 255³ = 423³ + 228³ = 436³ + 167³ = 87,539,319.
This gives you three party communication without sharing a key.
Page 671.
[Do you see how you can use such in your cryptology? Easy to verify, hard to find.
Admittedly, 4,724 is not a large number of solutions to search. But you can fix that.
Do you see an advantage of Diophantine equations over prime factorization
of large composit numbers? (Yes, you can apply all of your powerful Number Theory.)
Do you see an advantage of Diophantine equations over discrete logarithms
in finite fields (Galois fields, yes, all of your powerful Galois Theory.)?
Consider the number of operations and the type of operations on your computer.
You see? Remember, on your digital computer all the math is binary integer arithmatic.
You know all the tricks for optimization of such.
-- Jon Low]
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
Least Action, Lagrangian,
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
"How to build and solve a 4D Rubik's cubes in physical 3D (no simulator!)"
by Mathologer
Hey, pulling cubes out and sticking them back in another location is not following
any rule set.
"But there is nothing a bit of common sense can't handle." WHAT!?
(Auf Deutsch, "WAS!?")
"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
"You don't need to memorize theorems,
because you can always derive them from first principles."
-- Sven Hartman
"All that we don't know is astonishing.
Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing."
-- Philip Roth
"Never memorize anything. Rather, study it until it becomes obvious."
-- Norman Christ
"Handbook of Applied Cryptography"
by Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone
"Computer Security and the Internet:
Tools and Jewels from Malware to Bitcoin", Second Edition
by Paul C. van Oorschot
ISBN: 978-3-030-83410-4 (hardcopy), 978-3-030-83411-1 (eBook)
"An Introduction to Error Correcting Codes with Applications"
by Scott A. Vanstone , Paul C. Oorschot
Research and Publications (P. Van Oorschot)
Alfred J. Menezes
Scott A. Vanstone
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Signals Intelligence,
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
"Rebuilding Combat Electromagnetic Warfare for U.S. Ground Forces"
by Conner Bender
Comments in Soldier Systems Digest newsletter --
This article written by Conner Bender
and published on the Irregular Warfare Institute website is an excellent place to start
when contemplating the reemergence of Electromagnetic Warfare in the US Army.
Although the title mentions ground forces, it really just applies to the Army force structure.
The Marines have their own issues but they aren’t nearly as pronounced as the Army’s
who is essentially starting over from scratch. If you've spoken with me in person about
this topic, you know I can talk for hours and I did just that last week in Augusta, Georgia
during TechNet. Generally, it was like talking to a wall as no one aside form retirees
had any sort of frame of reference that things could be different.
The history of the issue as presented is not complete but it hits the high points.
One thing that is left out in regard to the Air Land Battle-era Combat Electronic
Warfare Intelligence concept was that it went away simply because post-Cold War,
the Army foolishly thought it could get out of the Electronic Attack business and
completely divested itself of jammers. Commanders of the time were understandably
unhappy with EW support because it was simply too little. Intelligence personnel,
particularly crypto-linguists are notoriously difficult to create, particularly in the
numbers and languages needed to properly fulfill the Army’s tactical and strategic
requirements. A Division’s CEWI Bn never had enough linguists or EW systems
to go head-to-head with the Warsaw Pact. The reality is that didn't have enough of
anything to get the job done at the time and would have quickly resorted to Chem
or Nuke strikes to delay the Soviet horde.
The GWOT-era Brigade Combat Team structure only made things worse.
A tiny MI Co with a single SIGINT Platoon doesn’t offer enough capability to
get much done. Worse yet, it remains buried in an Engineer Bn with a commander
who has no idea what to do with it. The Army created failure; cancel EW systems
development, take jammers out of service and scatter those who know how to do it
to the four winds rather than keeping them in a dedicated organization.
Today, the Army is keen on EW. It has created an EW MOS and is fielding systems.
On one hand, it knows that Cyber/EW/SI must be hand in glove. After all, the systems
are all developed in the same Program Management shop and at certain echelons are
all congregated together as in the Theater Multi-Domain Effects Battalions and certain
SOF elements.
However, at the tactical and operational level, these three communities who used
to be one, don’t know how to work with one another, and in some cases are wary of
working together. Both EW and SI collect the same signals, but only SI is capable
of characterizing what they are seeing. To an EW operator, they are just signals and
can be either DFed (with more emphasis on Lines of Bearing than true geolocation)
or jammed. DFed signals could feasibly be turned over to a Fire Direction Center
for kinetic destruction if they ever work out the bugs to make it actually happen.
Fratricide (both kinetic and non-kinetic) is sure to follow.
The old CEWI organization’s Technical Control and Analysis Element provided
the oversight control on how to deal with various signals. In conjunction with the
increased capability of modern Frequency Managers, friendly emitters can be
protected even better. Integration of Blue Force Tracking improves matters even more.
If you attempt to discuss deeper concepts like using Electronic Order of Battle
to better characterize the signals they are seeing, or control measures to protect
exploitable signals from disruption with an EW professional, you either get the
second lieutenant stare or a brush off that the additional classifications would stifle
their work. To the contrary, the current system is sure to work against itself.
However, they do make a point, the Army’s current vision of EW offers the
maneuver commander those two tangible things they require: DF and Jam.
Unfortunately, they are getting just a fraction of the capability available. Due to the
poor levels of tactical SI support enjoyed by conventional forces during the GWOT,
(the opposite happened in SOF, with a massive growth of direct support SI) ground
force commanders would prefer for SI to look at the deep fight, with collection at
higher levels.
I recently spoke with SI, Cyber, and EW personnel at multiple points in their
career as well as different levels of experience and the common theme was that
they had no frame of reference when I discussed the capabilities of CEWI.
It’s been 30 years since that capability was dismantled and there is no one left to
tell them that they are missing a lot as they recreate this capability.
The ultimate answer is to fold Cyber and EW back into SI and create an actual
Electronic Warfare branch within the Army consisting of the three capabilities.
SI belongs more with those two capabilities than with the reminder of the MI
enterprise which skews HUMINT and IMINT. Whether they like it or not,
neither Cyber or EW can exist without SI and their attempts to accomplish the
mission without one another comes up short.
The Army’s divisions require a dedicated Intelligence and EW unit assigned
directly to them which in turns must support maneuver and coordinate with
outside organizations as both collectors and consumers of the types of intelligence
they specialize in, to feed the larger fight. The system currently being created is
myopic and will result in fratricide without some form of overall technical control
and disjointed effort without massing of capability.
I do not abandon my overall belief that a standalone service must be created
to best institutionalize these three complimentary capabilities which have become
stove piped over the past three decades, but I believe this is also the best path
for the Army which will continue to require Cyber/EW/SI support as part of its
core function.
---
To subscribe to Soldier Systems Digest,
Their mailing address is:
4701 Old Canoe Creek Rd, Box 702515, Saint Cloud, FL, 34770
From an email from "Draft 2 Digital" --
Bartz v. Anthropic: As you may have heard or read in the news,
Judge William Alsup ruled that a class action case against the AI company
Anthropic can move forward.
If you believe your copyrighted work has been unlawfully downloaded
by Anthropic, you have the opportunity to submit information to the
plaintiffs' attorneys in Bartz v. Anthropic, one of the copyright class action
lawsuits involving AI.
The court found that Anthropic infringed authors' and publishers' copyrights
by downloading millions of books from the pirate websites Library Genesis
(“LibGen”) and Pirate Library Mirror (“PiLiMi”) to train their AI model,
and certified a class comprised of all rights holders of copyright-registered
books downloaded by Anthropic from these sites.
The plaintiffs' attorneys are collecting contact information from all authors
and publishers who may be part of the class to ensure that they receive official
notices in the case going forward. By providing your contact information to
the plaintiffs’ attorney’s, you’ll have the opportunity to opt out of the suit or
to stay in the suit to receive your share of the award if the plaintiffs prevail.
The attorneys have created a website where rights holders can confidentially
provide this information.
https://www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-author-contact/
How do I know if I'm part of the class action? What do I need to do?
To be eligible for the class action, your copyrighted books must have been
registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, have an ISBN or ASIN, and have
been downloaded by Anthropic from pirate libraries LibGen (June 2021) and
PiLiMi (July 2022).
Unfortunately, we’re unable to determine for you if your titles were
unlawfully downloaded by Anthropic. If you suspect your books may have
been unlawfully downloaded by Anthropic, we encourage you to visit the
plaintiff attorneys’ website
https://www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-author-contact/
to provide the requested information. This is an important step in ensuring
that as many authors as possible are compensated for the unauthorized use
of their work to train AI.
If you have questions about how class action lawsuits work,
we recommend reading the following resource from The Authors Guild:
"Class Action Lawsuits: An Overview for Authors".
https://authorsguild.org/resource/class-action-lawsuits-overview-for-authors/
-- Draft 2 Digital
[Do you understand what's going on? -- Jon Low]
From The Merge --
Epirus used its high-powered microwave (HPM) weapon to down 61 of 61
drones—including a 49-drone swarm—in recent drone-defense testing.
Epirus also just inaugurated a counter-drone innovation hub in Oklahoma.
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
"Best Practices on Operationalizing Battlefield Energy
Power Generation, Storage, and Distribution in LSCO"
by MAJ. Sean McLachlan and Todd Goodson
"U.S. Army Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Programs"
"The FBI's Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out"
by Dhruv Mehrotra
Also notice that the aspect ratio of the image changes between the video clips
that were edited together.
"BREAKING: Dan Bongino may have quit the FBI over disagreement
with Bondi on Epstein clown show" by Legally Armed America
Aspect ratio change shown at 9:38.
---
Have you ever seen "Lord of War" starring Nicolas Cage? (Bridget Moynahan is hot.)
Oh, didn't you know? It's a true story. Why would the government protect a criminal?
Follow the money. If you can't, follow the information. Money can be laundered.
Information, not so much. Even when you don't take action, to protect the source,
the enemy can still figure out that you knew, because you took action to mitigate.
If you're really cold, you can just let them all die. That would protect your source.
But then you wouldn't be the good guy anymore, would you. Who does that bring
to mind? Oh, right, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In case you didn't understand what's going on at the NSA.
"Defending Our Country From Freaks | Tulsi Gabbard Shuts Down Secret Sex Chats"
by Bridget Phetasy
The advertisements in this video are great. The ones in the video, not the ones
that interrupt the video. Quest medical. Get it?
Your scumbad detectors are broken.
This is a joke news show that is more reliable than the main stream media.
---
Dumpster Fire
---
Beyond Parody with Bridget Phetasy
---
Yes, this is in the Intelligence section.
"Are There Any Major News Outlets Not Carrying Water For The CIA?" by Docent
"FBI Forewarned About Oklahoma City Bombing?" by Docent
"Blowback
The Untold Story of the FBI and the Oklahoma City Bombing"
by Margaret Roberts
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
The Dispatch
"StrategyPage"
"The Merge"
Breaking Defense
Intrigue
1440
29155
Global Recaps
Timber Sycamore
Ground News
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Religion and Politics ***** ***** *****
"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
Rest In Peace Eric Worland.
Rest In Peace Wiley Clapp (1935 - 2025).
RIP, James Dobson:
Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, died this morning at age 89.
Only the Christians
"D.C.'s murder rate ran 169 percent higher than Louisiana's, the deadliest state,
and an astonishing 523 percent higher than that of the average state.
No city in the top 20 came close." —John R. Lott Jr.
"Trump Is Saving More Black Lives Than the BLM Movement"
by Patrick Hampton
Remember, most of the people in the District of Columbia are Black.
"California Regulations Keep Another Business Out of the State"
by Kamden Mulder
Remember, In and Out Burger left California and moved to Tennessee.
I loved In and Out Burger when I lived in California. Now they have followed me
to Tennessee.
Corruption starts at the top,
and must be stopped at the top. In the Marine Corps, all problems were blamed
on bad leadership.
In case you think Los Angeles is a good to place to live.
"Cracker Barrel Removes the Barrel and the Cracker" by Nate Jackson
Excerpt:
So, how did the logo go over?
“The stock, down 16.47%, is on pace for its worst five-day stretch since Feb. 14,
when it dropped 17.7%,” reports Fox Business. It plunged $200 million in value
before recovering some of that yesterday. We’ll see if sales do the same thing.
Cracker Barrel may be Southern and its customers average Americans,
but the company has been going woke for years. For example, for more than a decade,
it’s been a perennial “proud sponsor” of the Human (read: Homosexual) Rights
Campaign Nashville Equality Dinner. According to woke-buster Robby Starbuck,
“The HRC worked extremely hard to elect Kamala and constantly attacks Republicans.
The HRC also supports sex changes for kids and men in women’s bathrooms/locker-rooms.”
Likewise, Cracker Barrel sponsors Nashville Pride, and you don’t have to be a rocket
scientist to know that’s not about the city’s NFL team. The same woke agenda is
present in the company’s numerous DEI initiatives.
[The above web page describing Cracker Barrel DEI initiatives has been scrubbed.
I wonder why? -- Jon Low]
Email from Firearms Policy Coalition --
Jonathan,
We’re emailing you this evening because today is the anniversary of
Day 3 of the Ruby Ridge Standoff. It’s important to never forget this atrocity!
These tyrants justified sending HUNDREDS of armed officers up the ridge
over the length of a shotgun barrel. They did it once, and now they want to
do it to you!
It’s days like today that remind us of why we fight, Jonathan. Because
fighting the ATF is literally a fight for the survival of peaceable people like you.
But FPC will never, ever give up fighting the Corrupt ATF. And with your
support, we are going to DEMOLISH the unconstitutional laws they enforce.
It’s why we’re taking on the government over the NFA in cases like
FPC v. Platkin (SBR ban), Brown v. ATF (NFA), & U.S. v. Peterson (suppressors).
We’re doing it because your rights matter, Jonathan. And we’re doing it
because these people HATE you with every fiber of their being.
And as long as federal gun laws like the NFA exist, these trigger-happy
lunatics will continue to get away with tearing families apart with impunity.
[Remember Bryan Malinowski. -- Jon Low]
So today, let’s work toward ELIMINATING the ATF and the immoral laws
they enforce by standing together against tyranny!
For freedom and liberty,
– The FPC Team
In case you don't understand the academic liberals.
Woke NAZIs.
"Venezuela rallies militia volunteers in response to US 'threat' " by Barbara Agelvis
Comment by Stephen P. Wenger --
Conspicuously absent from this CBS report is any history of gun ownership in
Venezuela. Prior to the election of Chávez, licensure to own and carry firearms was
routine for Venezuelan citizens and residents with clean criminal records. Under
the pretext of reducing crime, in 2012 Venezuela banned private sales of firearms
and ammunition. In 2013 Venezuela stopped issuing new firearm licenses.
In 2017 government banned carrying firearms in public places. I wonder about two
things:
First, how many of the new militia members are volunteering simply to get their
hands on a firearm?
Second, will the militia members actually be issued ammunition for their rifles?
Back in the 1960's, I knew someone who'd violated the ban and traveled to Castro's
Cuba. I recall him commenting that it was common to see militia members riding
buses, armed with Kalashnikov rifles but that they were not issued ammunition
for them. For those unfamiliar with South American history, the term
“Bolivarian Army” derives from the fact that the official name of Venezuela
translates as “Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” to honor Simón Bolivar,
leader of the early 19th-century independence movement from Spain of what
are now Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
"Convicted Murderer Named Violence Prevention Director" by Liberty Doll
"The politics of bike lanes have become a stand-in for something larger:
who city streets are really for. Are they lifelines of transportation, commerce,
and emergency response? Or are they canvases for 'green' experiments that
elevate a minuscule minority of cyclists above the far greater number of
drivers, bus riders, and delivery vehicles that keep the city moving?"
—Jeff Jacoby
" 'If you don't give trans people hormones, they'll shoot themselves!'
Well, if you do give them hormones, they'll shoot young Christian children."
—Will Chamberlain
---
"Transgenderism is an inherently radicalizing, demonic ideology that always
leads to chaos, and often violence. It's an obvious danger at every level and
must be opposed in every way possible."
—Allie Beth Stuckey
---
Randy Harris's post
---
"Minneapolis Shooter Identified--Another Leftist Killing Christians" by Docent
"When Bad Math Spreads Misinformation" by Math The World
NAZI stands for National Socialist Party. Socialist.
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."
-- Mary Flannery O'Connor
*************************************************************************
"History teaches us that history teaches us nothing." -- James Bachmann
"GM Daniel Naroditsky CHECKMATES Me in 45 Seconds Blindfolded..."
by Anna Cramling
Do you understand what's going on? How is the Grand Master able to move
so quickly? Sometimes before Anna moves.
"The DARK Truth of John "Shrek" McPhee" by Valhalla VFT
“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
Jimmy Carr
***************************** Begin Psychology ***********************
"Don't be her option: why you get left on read" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
The fundamental law of attraction: people want what they want, not what wants them.
In life, we don't get what we deserve. We get what we negotiate.
As Donald Trump says, in any negotiation you always must be able to walk away.
Otherwise, you are not negotiating. You are begging.
There is little point in securing an attractive option on unfavorable terms.
"Why most MARRIAGES FAIL: you are not enough people" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
An email from Orion Taraban, Psy.D. --
A simple test.
Wednesday, August 20th, 2025
At this stage of my life, I believe that 90% of a successful relationship comes
down to selection. And selection is a process that needs to occur gradually and
over time. Consider hiring for an important corporate position. There are often
dozens of interviews over the course of many months with several different
stakeholders in diverse environments assessing a host of skills relevant to the job.
The same is true for romantic relationships. The number one reason why
people get involved in toxic or incompatible relationships is rushing the
selection process. Today, I'm going to give you an easy rule of thumb to know
if you're moving too fast. In my experience, it can take up to a year – and
sometimes more – to get over a serious heartbreak. That's a significant amount
of time.
So here's the test. Take your annual income – whether it's $50,000 or
$500,000 – and ask yourself: “would I trust this person with that amount
of my money in small, unmarked bills?” If you're not willing to do that yet,
then you need to keep a hold on your heart. Just like you could lose a year
of salary by trusting the wrong person, you could very well lose a year of
time by entering into the wrong relationship.
This week's behavioral experiment:
Consider how you might still be untrustworthy. Address those reasons
with reality-based action.
Warmly,
Orion
"Getting vs. keeping: emotional labor in dating" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
At the appropriate time.
"The core of respect: approaching the O word" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
For men, respect is more important than love.
Behavioral indicator for respect, obedience.
"Don't waste her time: how women set themselves up to fail" by Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
A lot of plans fail due to impatience. You have to give yourself time to succeed.
Taking on too many projects at once ensures you succeed at none of them.
---
Starting late isn't so bad. I did service in the Armed Forces before graduating from
college. So I was several years behind my peers. But it turned out okay.
My daughter served in the Armed Forces and had two babies before starting
medical school. She is presently doing her intership and will spend 2026 to 2030
working on her residency. So she is a good ten years behind her peers. But she
seems happy.
---
Random House Dictionary
Definition --
limerence:
noun
the state of being obsessively infatuated with someone,
usually accompanied by delusions of or a desire for an intense
romantic relationship with that person.
Word History and Origins --
Origin of limerence
Arbitrary coinage by Dorothy Tennov, U.S. psychologist (1928-2007)
in her book Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love
This word is not listed in the scholarly American Heritage Dictionary.
For good reason.
***************************** End Psychology ************************
"Jana Kramer - I Got The Boy"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNJwu-YkQlc (Official Music Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKdwVJrr5qU (Alternate Ending)
I saw her preform this song at the Grand Ole Opry. Very impressive.
I could not find a video of the Grand Ole Opry performance.
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
Irishka (Irina Sergina Petrova)
With daughter
On the yacht. The crew, not the talent.
With mom.
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In an English class, we were tasked with describing Columbus Circle.
No one in the class got it correct. Look at a map, you'll see why.
Avocado was not made to be drunk.
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