New Haven Independent:

The activists come from different backgrounds: Claiborne is an evangelical author and anti-violence activist. Martin is a Mennonite pastor turned blacksmith. Both of them believe in the necessity of a “Christian response” to the American gun violence crisis. The tour was planned to coincide with the pre-Easter season of Lent, when many Christians reflect on the sanctity of life.

[ … ]

First Claiborne read aloud a prayer that he had written to commemorate the event.

“Dear God, we thank you for giving us a perfect world, and we ask forgiveness to the mess we’ve made of it,” he said.

This is an odd theology and he’s on the horns of a real epistemological dilemma.  On the one hand, the world if perfect, but on the other hand, we’ve made a mess of it.  But if we’ve made a mess of it, the world wasn’t really perfect after all because that evil had to come from somewhere.  He hasn’t fully theologically dealt with the effects of the fall in Adam and federal headship and original sin.

Nonetheless, I think he’s a liar.  I think he doesn’t really believe a word of that.  I think he locks his door at night, and I think he still wants police to be armed.

He is welcome to comment on these pages and prove me wrong.

News from New Mexico:

Counties in several states, including Colorado and Illinois, have passed similar resolutions recently in opposition to newly passed or potential gun restriction measures.

Balderas, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to the state’s law enforcement agencies that it was their duty to enforce the measures.

“As law enforcement officials, we do not have the freedom to pick and choose which state laws we enforce,” Balderas said, according to The Albuquerque Journal.

So that’s his strategy.  Consider that.  A “prohibited person.”  Who might that be?  Someone who stole a weapon?  A convicted violent felon?  No, someone (person A) who, in the privacy of their own home or in a parking lot somewhere, sold a gun to another person (person B), and that other person (person B) committed a crime with it.

In this case, apparently the attorney general will allow, or even assist, the families of victims of the violence perpetrated by person B to file suit, presumably civil suit, against the Sheriff of the county in which the transaction took place.

And said transaction was supposed to be known by the Sheriff of that county – exactly how?  I see Castle Rock v. Gonzalez and Warren v. District of Columbia being pertinent here.  And I think the attorney general and victims’ families will lose in court.

Nice try.

Politifact: “Let’s make something clear: The Nazis did deny guns specifically to Jews. But, given the size of their forces and their methods of confiscation and extermination, this is a trivial factor. The notion that it would have made any difference is unreasonable.”

Let’s make one thing clear: yes they did.  This isn’t even a variant of the old “Nazis had gun control for all, not just the Jews” argument.  It’s the same thing, just rehashed on Politifact.

We’ve dealt with it before.  The Nazis used the very firearms registry that had been created to disarm “enemies of the state.”  Jews were included on that list, as were many Christians.  The Nazis hated Christians as much as they did Jews.

That’s why you should ignore Politifact.  Nothing they do is right.  They get everything wrong, as if they’re actually trying to do that to be a joke.  Snopes is their equal.  Both sites are complete trash, as are their “researchers.”

From Wirecutter’s Place, this disturbing piece from California.

Quite some time ago, the Sinoloa drug cartel took up shop in Humboldt County, CA. Today, they are controlling much of the marijuana trafficking from a region that is now often referred to as the Emerald Triangle. They engage in illegal water diversion to irrigate their crops courtesy of Nancy and Paul Pelosi. They have trouble with rodents and small animals eating through the PVC piping. Subsequently, the Sinoloas spread and extreme toxin on the perimeter of their property to kill all-would-be invaders that would destroy their PVC piping. The United States Forest Service has become aware of this practice because of the threat to both the drinking water for millions of Californians as well as the dramatic effect this can have on the food chain.

Besides using rodenticide, the pot growers liberally spray their plants with highly concentrated insecticides such as carbofuran, a chemical that can seep through soil and enter ground water….

“The water lines get gnawed on primarily by rodents, so they scatter rodenticide pellets along
the pipe,” Thompson said. “But the water catchment pond and the actual camp are draws for all kinds of critters, so we find rodenticide pellets as well as open cans of tuna and cat food laced with insecticide. The tuna and cat food targets species like foxes, bears, and ravens.  ”The killing effects can spread up the food chain, in a process called bioaccumulation, as larger predators  feed on the smaller, poisoned animals. In one memorable case of bioaccumulation that Thompson observed,  a fox died from consuming insecticide-laced bait. All the fleas, ticks, and flies on the fox died as well, and a  vulture that fed on the dead fox also died. A recent study (link is external) by California State researchers  on owls further validates that toxic levels of rodenticides and insecticides are entering the terrestrial food web.

Carbofuran’s chemical formula is C₁₂H₁₅NO₃.  “Carbofuran has one of the highest acute toxicities to humans of any insecticide widely used on field crops … Since its toxic effects are due to its activity as a cholinesterase inhibitor it is considered a neurotoxic pesticide.”  Cholinesterase serves as a neurotransmitter.

There is also this potential side effect.  In one study of rats, Carbofuran in sublethal amounts decreased testosterone by 88%.  Great.

Other insurgents know how to use water as a weapon of war.  Whether intentionally or accidentally, diversion of water supplies is open warfare.  Too, poisoning what remains of the water supply is serious business.  Call it was it is: warfare on all accounts.  Don’t look for the folks in California to do anything about it.

So just to be sure, if you’re smoking pot, you could be inhaling rat poison and Carbofuran.  The rat poison can make you very sick in nonlethal doses, and the Carbofuran suppresses your testosterone.  If you smoke that stuff (I don’t), enjoy your doobie and have a good cry.  I’m also glad I don’t live in California.

I sincerely appreciate all of the comments and notes I’ve gotten in response to that post.  It means more to me than you know, and it has convinced me that although some of you don’t comment on the blog (arghh …), it’s worth it to spend the effort writing.

I think I’ve responded to all of the email sent, if not, please forward your email again because I’ve just overlooked it.  I should have stipulated one thing.  It’s one thing to find work anywhere (unlimited relocation or travel).  It’s another thing entirely to look for work locally.

Most of our family is in the area, and all of our grandchildren are.  I do still have one job possibility out of state (and I mean, way out of state) that is open.  I need to let that run to completion.  There are two other possibilities within the area that need to run to completion as well, one of which is contracting.  The other one would be a true Godsend if it works out (contracting, for a longer period of time, assuming that the company wins the bid).

I’m sure God will take care of us, but we’re going through a time of testing.

The National Interest:

The U.S. Army’s standard infantry weapon repeatedly overheated and jammed during a bloody 2008 battle in Afghanistan. The Washington Times reported last week on the reported failure of the M-4 carbine during the fierce firefight in Wanat, during which the Taliban nearly overran an Army outpost.

A direct descendant of the Vietnam War-era M-16, the more compact M-4 is the Army’s standard-issue weapon. The ground combat branch has half a million of the semi-automatic weapons in service and has signed contracts for 120,000 more.

The Army and manufacturers are improving the M-4 to reflect battlefield lessons, but it’s unclear whether these upgrades will prevent another near-catastrophe like occurred at Wanat.

In the early morning hours of July 13, 2008, a Taliban force of between 100 and 200 fighters attacked an American Forward Operating Base guarded by 48 soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company—part of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment.

The paratroopers had just arrived in the area five days prior. The Taliban had been watching—and attacked before the platoon could finish setting up its defenses, which typically include walls, razor wire and machine guns.

Firing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, the Taliban swarmed the American position. The U.S. soldiers called in Apache attack helicopters, 155-militmeter howitzers and even a B-1 heavy bomber to pound the attackers.

The Americans held their ground. But nine soldiers died and 27 suffered wounds. Around 50 Taliban died and evidence suggests 40 were wounded.

In stand-up fights like Wanat, whichever side is able to generate fire superiority—in other words, throw out more lead—has the advantage. This is particularly important for the defenders, as sheer firepower can slow the attackers’ advance until help arrives.

The paratroopers had brought to the outpost two heavy machine guns, two automatic grenade launchers and an anti-tank missile. These were supposed to be the linchpins of Wanat’s defenses, but accurate Taliban fire disabled most of these heavier weapons early in the battle.

Fire superiority fell to the M-4s. In the Army’s report on Wanat, one soldier described alternating between three M-4s, using each until it jammed.

“My weapon was overheating,” another soldier said. “I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about half an hour or so into the fight.” In other words, the soldier fired approximately 360 rounds in 30 minutes. That’s 14 rounds a minute—one every four seconds.

This one was originally published by War is Boring.  In my experience The National Interest produces click bait and nothing more.  Most of their articles are un-serious.  When they publish someone else in entirety it’s usually better, but in this case I cannot believe they are publishing this claptrap this late in the game.  There are so many errors in this commentary it’s hard to believe they went ahead with it.

To begin with, the Taliban force was near Battalion size, not 100 to 200 fighters.  They fielded nearly 600 fighters.  The Taliban weren’t just watching them as they set up the COP, they knew a full one year in advance what was going to happen and where it was going to be based on the felt-need of the Army to get “permission” from tribal elders.  Contrast this with the USMC in the Helmand Province where they would go in and set up a COP overnight with no permission from anyone.

This wasn’t a “stand-up” fight.  No one was standing (at least, not U.S. forces unless behind barriers).  The majority of the heavy losses were suffered at Observation Post Topside, which was poorly positioned and improperly manned.  The US force size was too small.  It was in a valley.  They had no CAS, the ring-knockers from Joyce let them down while they sipped coffee or played video games.

Blaming it on the M-4 is the stupidest thing they could have done, and articles written that way are looking to place blame somewhere other than squarely on the shoulders of flag and staff officers.  Finally, how many videos of run-to-failure full automatic fire with AR-15s do we have to show you to convince you that no one needs a piston AR, and that the direct impingement Eugene Stoner design does just fine.  How can we post videos of ARs shooting full auto for 800 rounds before the barrel melts without a single FFT / FTE before they stop blaming the rifle and start blaming upper command for the failure at Wanat?

By the way, I’m still proud to have three URLs associated with the Army report on Wanat.  PDF warning.  Page 255.

Prior: Battle of Wanat (category)

I noticed that to this post and this one, tfA-t made some remarks.  I sent a note to his posted email address, which of course bounced.  So I have no way to communicate with him.  I don’t concur that he has a “right” to make comments except on his own blog (which probably doesn’t exist).  The First Amendment says no such thing about a right to post comments.  But the note I sent says this.

I want to moderate your comments, I really do.  But I’m having sort of a problem.  I need to know more.

You see, I have no respect for “Gray man.”  I use my real name, I told my readers where I used to work, and I own every post I’ve ever made.  They’re mine, they represent my views, and those views can be connected to a name.  My own.

Now, I’m sure that your real name isn’t tfA-t.  No momma actually names their baby that unless she hates him.  Maybe your momma hates you – I don’t know.

So I need some information from you, and if you give it to me, I’ll moderate your comments, giving you full access after the first one so that you an trash my web site until your heart is content.

[1] Real name

[2] Place of employment

[3] DD214 form (since you claimed to be former military).

I need all of this in a verifiable system, which means that you copy your response to this email to your work email, and then forward the same note from your work email to this address.  Please send me the URL associated with your place of employment so that I can verify you are who you say you are.

Otherwise, you’re just another boy sitting in her momma’s basement.

So are you bold and proud, or are you afraid and cowardly?  Which is it?  Send this information to me and get on board trashing my web site.  Do it.  Just do it.

So let’s get this party rolling, tfA-t.  I can be reached.  You know how to do it.

News from South Carolina:

Bills on either side of the gun debate have gone nowhere. That includes legislation by Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, to extend the FBI background check period from three days to five days — versions of which he’s pushed in every session since the 2015 shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, when nine black parishioners were gunned down. Kimpson managed to get a hearing last month, but the bill didn’t advance. Neither has any other bill expanding gun background checks in this gun-friendly state. But neither have various “constitutional carry” bills that would allow adults to carry a gun, openly or concealed, without getting a weapons permit.

South Carolina = California = New York = Hawaii = New Jersey.

I know that hurts my SC readers.  That one is a kick right to the balls.  I’m sorry.  But I have to tell the truth.

David Codrea:

It’s a sign of the age of fake “toxic masculinity” that New Zealand men would so readily give up their guns. We’re talking about a people whose ancestors tamed a wilderness now being evacuated in panic from a music festival after someone misidentified a tattoo as a sign of “right-wing extremism.”

[ … ]

She knows that because in 2008, she was elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth, an affiliate of Socialist International, which unsurprisingly is “heartened” by the March for Our Lives “movement” and its young useful idiot figureheads.

Among IUSY’s goals: “Building a new world order” (just like George H. W. Bush called for at the UN).

“We strongly point out that the right to migrate freely in the world is fundamental,” IUSY declared in its 2009 resolutions, speaking in that case to the European Union.

Oh really?  Unlimited migration is a “fundamental right?”    If so, then I demand you give me chapter and verse from the Holy Scriptures where God stipulated that countries have no right to control over their borders.  I’m waiting.  And I’ll eat my hard hat if you can do it.

Is there any doubt that unlimited migration is a pretext for disarmament and government control over every aspect of life?

Ammo.com:

Hollywood has a clever way of distorting our perspective on history, and a great example of this is Western film – a movie genre we’ve all come to love. Cattle rustlers, guns blazing, outlaws running loose, and vigilantes dishing out vengeance indiscriminately. These scenes have become more synonymous with the American Frontier than Winchester and their “Cartridge That Won the West.” But these fictional tales have produced more than entertainment for over a century; they’ve also contributed to an ongoing, subtle push for gun control, all while making Hollywood millions.

Revisionist history books tell us that the “Wild West” was an anarchic period of time that was not conducive to human prosperity. Images of a Hobbesian nightmare – a life that is brutish and short – are ingrained in our consciousness thanks to decades of public schooling and violent images on the silver screen which are light on actual history and heavy on creative license.

However, individuals who believe in liberty and developing their critical thinking faculties should be skeptical of most mainstream narratives regarding history, especially American history. After all, these narratives by and large have been created by Hollywood, a legacy institution that has historically advanced politically correct content with the support of Washington in order to perpetuate the cultural status quo.

When the curtain of political correctness that’s been draped over this particular period of history is pulled back, we see a much more nuanced picture of the American Frontier. In fact, research by historians such as Peter J. Hill, Richard Shenkman, Roger D. McGrath, Terry Anderson, and W. Eugene Holland shows that this period was rather indicative of a “not so wild, Wild West.”

For the purposes of this article, the Wild West will now be referred to as the Old West. This is by no means a pedantic distinction, but rather an acknowledgment of the fact that this time period was not “wild” by any stretch of the imagination when compared to other chaotic periods in human history. Indeed, the Old West had its fair share of challenges for American settlers. But as we’ll see below, crafty settlers found ways through ingenuity and mutual cooperation – all done with very limited state interference – to create a stable order for generations to come.

So let us delve into the “not so wild, Wild West.”

The Old West was not a paradise by any stretch of the imagination. There existed conflict between groups, such as American settlers and Native American tribes, once they came in contact in the Great Plains and other parts of the frontier. This was natural due to the cultural differences that existed between these groups and the lack of defined property rights in those regions.

However, in more settled towns on the frontier, there was not as much violence as the Hollywood flicks would like you to believe. One of the most important texts disrupting this depiction of the Old West was W. Eugene Hollon’s Frontier Violence: Another Look. Hollon argued that “the Western frontier was a far more civilized, more peaceful, and safer place than American society is today.” Additionally, historian Richard Shenkman makes the case that the popular depictions of the Old West belong more in a movie script rather than a real-life historical account.

Shenkman noted:

“Many more people have died in Hollywood Westerns than ever died on the real Frontier.”

Dodge City has become a landmark for Western movies, but its portrayal is more fiction than reality. Shenkman also dismantled the Dodge City myth:

“In the real Dodge City, for example, there were just five killings in 1878, the most homicidal year in the little town’s Frontier history: scarcely enough to sustain a typical two-hour movie.”

Well, most stuff that comes out of Hollywood is pure crap, and almost always with a purpose in mind.  Say, maybe they should start making movies about the violence in Chicago and Detroit?  May they should take a hard look at what socialist policies have done to those cities, and then turn to Venezuela for a followup, perhaps?

Don’t hold your breath.