Any weapon is better than no weapon at all.

While swords aren't exactly my home defense weapon of choice, they can be very effective in a pinch. I'd rather have a gun, but there's no denying that the distances in homes are rather short, allowing you, or the home invaders to get close - at which point a sword, or even a large knife (especially one designed with fighting in mind) can put a serious hurt on anyone, no matter age or size.

New Mosin

In ten short days (@$!#ing CA waiting period) this will be mine. An M91/30 hex receiver Mosin in great (for a Mosin anyway) shape. All serial numbers match, but it is unfortunately missing its bayonet. I'll be acquiring another bayonet to replace the missing one, but it just won't be the same as the original bayonet would have been. Even so, this is still a pretty good find.

Range Day!

I just took my AR-7 Henry survival rifle and my M91/30 Mosin-Nagant shooting. .22 ammunition is still ridiculously difficult to find - I got lucky and had a friend who gave me a 500 round brick - but 7.62x54R is available at reasonable prices (about $100 + shipping for a 440 round "spam can")
There is nothing quite like going out into the desert and shooting old electronics with a rifle whose design predates radio as a communications tool. And then bayoneting them.

Fully Assembled AR-7

M91/30 with bayonet and sling

The Unorganized Rebellion

The Unorganized rebellion is a state of revolution where, rather than operating in an organized and identifiable group, the rebels act individually, taking it upon themselves to assassinate the politicians who are the cause of the grievance. The goal of the unorganized revolution is to force the government to change it's policy in order to avoid the risk of assassination of the individuals in charge of policy.

The Reason:
An individual assassin lacks the greatest weakness of any revolution - the need to trust. Since the individual operates alone or with a small group whom they know well, there is very little chance of counterrevolutionary infiltrators leading to discovery and death. In addition, the assassination of policy makers (in large enough numbers) may lead to the elevation of sympathetic policy makers, or the fearful capitulation of the already in place policy makers.

The Weapons:
There are a multitude of firearms in the US (approximately 1 firearm per individual), but for the purposes of this post, the concern is with rifles (with a ratio of approx. 1:3), and more specifically, with rifles capable of allowing an individual to assassinate an individual from a distance where a protective detail would be incapable of detecting the assassin or responding in time to capture said assassin (assuming a well laid escape plan). This excludes a great deal of rifles in a variety of calibers, but still leaves behind a considerable amount of weapons. Unfortunately, there are no estimates of the number of rifles with this capability, an estimate made more difficult due to the ease with which a scope can be attached to a scope-less rifle. Even without such attachments, it must be noted that the most successful sniper in history used a scope-less rifle designed in 1891, and during the American Civil War sniper kills as far away as 800 yards were recorded. The standard infantry rifle of the Union, the Springfield 1861 rifled musket, had a maximum range of 1000 yards, with trained soldiers capable of accurate aimed fire at 500 yards. No amount of bodyguards can protect an individual from a halfway competent shooter. The ability of the shooter to escape depends upon the person assassinated, the location where the assassination took place, and any measures that the individual took to prevent identification.

Even if only a third of all rifles are capable of being used for the proposed purpose, there would still be millions of them. Should the line in the sand be crossed, and large numbers of citizens choose to exercise the political power inherent in a gun, the proverbial "rifle behind every blade of grass" will be aimed at the politicians responsible for crossing the line.

Given that it is effectively impossible to disarm a populace that doesn't want to be disarmed (e.g. Chechnya) the citizenry of the US will always have the means to express their extreme displeasure.


A disorganized rebellion, with individual sharpshooters running around taking potshots at politicians will quickly establish  that no policy maker is truly safe from a sufficiently disgruntled populace.

Lasers are not Toys

A guy just got 30 (well deserved) months in prison for shining a laser at an aircraft.
Lasers and aircraft is a serious issue. Lasers can temporarily or permanently (depending upon laser strength) blind a person. A blind pilot cannot fly, so pointing lasers at aircraft is roughly equivalent to walking around with a loaded firearm and sweeping people with the safety off and your finger on the trigger - it is unsafe, malicious/negligent, and could easily lead to someone dying (it also violates every firearms safety rule ever). Pointing a laser at aircraft is either reckless endangerment or attempted murder.

Sanctions in Stupidity

From Fox:

U.S. gift of F-16 fighters headed to Egypt, despite Morsi's harsh rhetoric

And from BBC:

N Korea 'to boost nuclear programme' after UN sanctions

It appears that the UK armed forces have introduced Emperor Mong to US and UN politicians.

"Go on, it'll be alright to give a government that is hostile to your country 16 modern jet fighters and 200 modern tanks."

 "One more useless sanction against North Korea, a country already isolated from everyone else, can't hurt."

I must note that the Fox News article didn't mention which variants of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and M1 Abrams were getting sent to Egypt. Which variants of these systems get sent there makes a significant difference - although even the original models of both systems are formidable weapons.

Giving weapons to a hostile nation definitely counts as stupidity, no matter how advanced (or not) the weapons are, unless the weapons are a Trojan Horse gambit of some sort.

The UN and useless sanctions is almost as stupid. I will however give them points for going in the "STOP! Or I'll yell stop again" direction despite its uselessness - at least they aren't actively giving North Korea nukes.

Mexican Vigilantes vs the Cartels

From Fox News:

Vigilante groups spring up in Mexico in fight against cartels

Frustrated by the impotency of the police to defend them against the cartels, many Mexican citizens have gone vigilante. I expect that the difference in results between the de facto lawmen and the de jure lawmen will eventually result in even more civil unrest in Mexico, but for now, the vigilantes seem to be doing a fair sight better of a job than the authorities. Some of whom have actually granted their seal of approval to the whole idea.

.....
But clearly, the vigilante squads here present problems even in their first few weeks. The vigilantes in Guerrero are holding, by their own account, 44 people accused of crimes ranging from homicide to theft. Nobody outside the village of El Zapote, where they are being held in a makeshift jail, knows what conditions they are being held in, or what charges, if any, there are against them.
When the head of the Guerrero state Human Rights Commission, Juan Alarcon Hernandez, showed up to check on the prisoners' condition, he was met by about 100 angry villagers who said they didn't want anyone to visit the prisoners. "No, no, no. We want justice!" the crowd shouted.
......

When people take matters into their own hands, its generally because the law isn't doing the job, and as such, they rarely have an overly great respect for the authorities responsible for the mess. I wonder how it'll all end up.

You're doing it Wrong...

Let us have a thought exercise shall we?
Imagine that you live in a place with no law enforcement with your family
Imagine that your family has some major problems. Imagine that your next door neighbor might be inclined to intervene if things get too bad. Imagine that the next door neighbor is a Black Belt in a serious combat oriented martial art. Pretend that rather than telling him to stay out of your business, you beat up his daughter in front of him to send the message.

That's essentially what's going on between Syria and Turkey.

From Fox News:

Syria's cross-border salvos send a message to Turkey, West to keep away

 Syria's cross-border attacks on Turkey in the past week look increasingly like they could be an intentional escalation meant to send a clear message to Ankara and beyond, that the crisis is simply too explosive to risk foreign military intervention.
With Turkey eager to defuse the crisis, the spillover of fighting is giving new life to a longshot political solution, with the Turks floating the idea of making President Bashar Assad's longtime vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa, interim leader if the president steps aside.
.......
The most recent flare-up between Syria and Turkey started Wednesday, when a shell fired from Syria slammed into a house in the Turkish border village of Akcakale, killing two women and three children. That set off the most serious and prolonged eruption of violence along the frontier since the uprising began nearly 19 months ago.
Although it was not clear whether Wednesday's shelling was intentional, Turkey responded swiftly by firing back and convening parliament for a vote that authorized further cross-border military operations if necessary.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cautioned Damascus not to test Turkey's "limits and determination." But the Syrian shelling has continued every day — leading many observers to conclude the acts are intentional provocation.
"It's not an accident. You can't send shells across the border by mistake five days in a row," said Mustafa Alani, a Middle East analyst of the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center, just hours before Syrian shelling struck Turkey for a sixth day.
........
According to Alani, escalating the crisis serves as a reminder to NATO, Turkey and the West that Syria's civil war can inflame the region with lightning speed. The threat of a spillover is likely to pressure Western powers into drafting a political solution, part of which could involve Assad's exit from power, rather than his being toppled by force.

The apparent "logic" behind the attacks is that Turkey doesn't want a war. Just because they don't want a war doesn't mean that they won't start one to protect their citizens. Just because the hypothetical Black Belt neighbor doesn't want to kill anyone won't prevent him from kill you if you start beating up on his daughter right in front of him.

We'll see how Turkey responds to this, but if given the Syrian response to their attempts to resolve this peacefully, this is looking like it could flare into a real war.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi scoffed at Davutoglu's proposal, saying it reflects "obvious political and diplomatic confusion and blundering."
"Turkey isn't the Ottoman Sultanate; the Turkish Foreign Ministry doesn't name custodians in Damascus, Mecca, Cairo and Jerusalem," al-Zoubi said Monday.

al-Zoubi should count himself lucky that he isn't dealing with the Ottoman Empire - the only person who outmatched them for ruthlessness during their time was Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia - because they'd probably find something creative to do with him and the government he represents. As it is, if the modern Turks decide to go to war, they'll probably settle for a 5.56 mm hemorrhage.

The Air Force and FLA (Funny Looking Aircraft)

The Air Force has a history of FLAs, from the F-117 to the B-2. Now Fox News has an article about declassified plans for Air Force aircraft that looks like a flying saucer. I've always figured that any actual "UFO" sightings in the US were really prototypes of various military aircraft being tested. I doubt that these "Flying saucers" were ever built, but this article just reinforces my belief that most UFO sightings are hoaxes or test aircraft. This doesn't mean that Aliens aren't out there (for a serious, well thought out discussion of Aliens and possible invasion may I suggest Alien Invasion by Travis S. Taylor and Bob Boan), but I don't think they've made contact... yet.

Source
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/08/us-air-force-declassifies-plans-for-flying-saucer/

Conflict Throughout the World

From Fox News:

Panetta warns clashes between Syria and Turkey may escalate

The continued exchange of artillery fire between Syria and Turkey raises additional concerns that the conflict may escalate and spread to neighboring countries, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.

Panetta said the U.S. is using its diplomatic channels to relay worries about the fighting in the hopes that it will not broaden.
His comments came on the heels of warnings from Turkey's prime minister that his country is not far from war with Syria.

I have no idea why Syria is antagonizing Turkey. According to Wikipedia (admittedly not the most reliable source in the world) Turkey's active duty personnel outnumber Syria's active duty and reserve formations together, in addition to the fact that Turkey spends almost ten times as much on its military.
It seems to me that antagonizing someone who can kick your ass, especially when you don't have much in the way of friends, is more than a little stupid.

The Fox News article continued on to discuss Iran and the economic sanctions that are damaging its economy - sanctions which exist because of other countries' not unreasonable feelings that Iran with a nuclear weapon would make a bad neighbor.

There was more in the article, mostly concerning negotiations with Peru, but still somewhat interesting reading.

Why the UN Small Arms Treaty Sucks

The UN Small arms treaty is aimed at preventing or at least alleviating the problem of various terrorist, criminal, and insurgent groups getting their hands upon small arms, in order to help prevent crime and human rights violations. Or at least, that's what the UN would have you believe.

1. It won't work.
The UN is an international joke for several reasons. One of them is their complete inability to enforce anything without target country permission. Iran, "rogue state" is perhaps the best example of this. If a country doesn't want to enforce the provisions of the treaty, even if they've signed the treaty, the UN will be powerless.

2. This treaty isn't about preventing crime and human rights violations. If the UN actually cared about human rights, the People's Republic of China (PRC) wouldn't be on the UN's Human Rights Council. Keeping the terrorists and criminals from getting weapons would be wonderful, but this treaty is more likely to affect the very people whom it claims to help.

3. They talk of tracing the firearms back to their last legitimate owner, and "holding them accountable". The problem comes when the last legitimate owner was a government, or a citizen of a country that is not a signatory of the treaty, or that chooses to violate the treaty. Then the UN is stuck, impotent.

4. Tracing the firearms to the last legitimate owner would require gun registration, something that is seen as being a precursor to confiscation of firearms, and rightfully so, as the previous examples of Hitler and other totalitarian human rights violators have shown.

I'm not comparing the UN to the Nazis, as the UN doesn't fit that label (they fall under the label of "power-hungry kleptocrats", not "psychopathic sadistic bastards"), but whenever they say that they're doing something to prevent human rights violations, remember that their Human Rights Council includes the PRC, Cuba, and Djibouti, all "single party republics", which is another way of saying "totalitarian dictatorship". It also includes various other countries where human rights are not respected. This is why I consider it to be a sick joke whenever the UN references human rights.

Sources:
Fox News: Proposed U.N. Treaty To Regulate Global Firearms Trade Raising Concerns For U.S. Gun Owners

Human Rights Council: Membership of the Human Rights Council

United Nations Disarmament: Small Arms and Light Weapons

Deadliness of Cars vs. Deadliness of Guns

A theoretical one metric ton (2679.23 lbs, about 320 pounds lighter than my Chevy S10) vehicle traveling at ten meters a second (about 22 mph) has 50,000 joules of energy. I’ll admit that I used this theoretical vehicle because I wanted a nice round number.

A 180 grain 30-06 rifle (Hornady 30-06 Springfield 180 gr. InterLock® SP) bullet traveling at 822.96 mps (2700 feet per second) has 3948.44 joules of energy.

A 240 grain 44. Magnum (Black Hills Ammunition, 44 Magnum 240 gr. JHP) pistol bullet traveling at 384.05 mps (1260 fps) has 1146.77 joules of energy.

Why then, can I buy and drive a car at 16, but have to wait until I turn 18 to buy a rifle, and until I turn 21 to buy a pistol?

For those who wish to quote death statistics, I’ve got a few from the CDC.

According to CDC’s WISQARS site, unintentional motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of accidental death in 2009 with 34,485 deaths, while firearms are the number 16 cause of accidental death with 554 fatalities.

Even with firearm suicides (18,735) and homicides (11,493) added to the firearm accidents, the total comes to 30,785, 3700 less than car accidents alone. No matter how you look at it, firearms are less deadly than cars.

EMP Warfare - The Threat to Civilization

EMP (electromagnetic pulse) warfare could be the thing that brings about the sticks and stones that Albert Einstien predicted World War Four would be fought with. EMP destroys all electronics within its effective radius, and large scale EMP warfare or terrorist attack could lead to the destruction of civilian electronics in a large area. Unlike many military systems, most civilian systems aren't hardened against EMP, and while the internet is hardened, accessing the internet without a computer is pretty dang hard. Popular literature has already envisioned something similar - In the book One Second After,by William R. Forstchen, terrorists launch an EMP assault on the US. EMP is deadly because of how electronics have been integrated into society. It is theoretically possible to survive in the US without the use of personal electronics, but with the exception of those who live in handbuilt shelter and hunt with a bow, everyone uses electronics at second hand. Even excluding the manufacturing process, electronics are a vital part of the US economy. Trucks use electronics to start their engines, moving supplies and consumer goods across the US. People use cell phones to communicate.
EMP weapons come in three forms. The first of these forms is Nuclear EMP. All nukes produce EMP, but when a nuke is exploded in space, the EMP produced is many times that of a nuclear explosion in air.
Other EMP weapons, generally involving High Power Microwaves (HPMs), or flux compression generator bombs (FCGs) also pose a threat, but their "footprint" is much smaller than that of nuclear EMP.
Will EMP cause Einstien's sticks and stones?

Sources -
How Stuff Works, "How E-Bombs Work"
"The Blackout Bomb" by John Lewallen

The advent of the Personal Defense Laser

I found this courtesy of the Wall Street Journal and Miguel Gonzalez Jr.

"May The Force, and Safety Goggles, Be With You"

"Since Luke Skywalker first picked up a light saber in 1977, we’ve dreamed of wielding the laser sword made famous in the “Star Wars” movies—“an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” And while the technology isn’t quite there yet, we’re getting closer.

For around $200, Shanghai-based WickedLasers.com will ship you its latest laser device, known as the Spyder III Pro Arctic and looking suspiciously like the beloved science-fiction weapon. Using a blue-laser diode taken from a powerful film projector, the Spyder III emits a 445-nanometer wavelength beam of up to one watt in power. Or, as the WickedLasers site explains:

“Don’t let the Arctic name fool you, this laser possesses the most burning capabilities of any portable laser in existence. That’s why it’s also the most dangerous laser ever created.”

As the article goes on to explain, the laser is a Class IV laser product, meaning that it can be dangerous.

Wicked Lasers says the Spyder III isn’t to be taken, ahem, lightly, and posts photos of two surly-looking fellows arrested for pointing lasers at aircraft. The Spyder III is a Class 4 laser, meaning it’s so strong that it can cause blindness and color-perception problems, including the inability to perceive the color green for four to six months. Also, at a thousand times stronger than sunlight on skin, it can burn skin and may even cause skin cancer.

So Wicked Lasers adds an FDA-mandated safety sticker on the device, includes a pair of safety glasses and warns that you shouldn’t make direct eye contact with the beam. Or expose it to bare skin. Or shine it at anyone. Or shine it at reflective surfaces. And don’t use it near airports, highways or construction sites. Really, they say, it should be used only by “individuals who have appropriate laser safety training and product familiarity in using Class 4 lasers.”

But other than that, they add, “As a general concept, owning a laser is pretty fun.”

And that fun is illustrated on the site, using videos that show Wicked Lasers products doing such disparate tasks as burning holes in trash bags, popping balloons, cutting electrical tape and igniting matches. Not exactly the sort of swashbuckling space adventure we imagined.

They shouldn't be marketing this as a toy, but as a non-lethal self-defense weapon. It can cause blindness and burn skin, and while they made it to be a toy, it would certainly made an adequate non-lethal defense. If they can up the power levels, it could even become a lethal weapon. This is a great advance in the creation of laser weapons (for consumers - industry and governments have access to more dangerous lasers already) , and it is being sold as a toy.