HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019

Anyone Who Believes Russia Is The Biggest Threat in The World Today, Is A Fucking Moron

China has been the problem for years, is still the problem and will be the biggest problem going into the future.

They're just quieter about how they go about expansion and takeovers

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3605624

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Things In Brazil Will Soon Be Heating Up For Both The Police And The Criminals

The Body Counts will soon be rising.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/license-to-kill-policing-to-get-a-trial-run-in-rio-de-janeiro#gs.9MrfOdM

On Drones and Disruption From John Robb At Global Guerillas

It's been awhile since I did a Blog Post on Drones. This article from John Robb USAF Lt. Col. (Retired) is just another example of how some cheap, easy to obtain technology can cause millions of dollars in disrpution without even killing anyone or damaging any property.


Dec 20 at 1:10pm
Disruption, Drones, and Airports

Yesterday, on the 19th of December at 9 PM GMT, a drone overflight shut down Gatwick airport, the UK's second busiest airport, stranding tens of thousands of holiday travellers.


Six additional overflights between 9:15 PM and midnight kept it closed.

A planned 4:30 AM opening was cancelled by another overflight at 3:45. Regular overflights at 7, 9, noon, and 3PM has kept it closed all day, causing the cancellation 760 flights and stranding 110,000 travellers.

The police are now deploying snipers, jamming equipment, and a laser sniper system (2 mi range) to destroy the drone if it appears again.

This is a good example of what is possible with low cost and low risk systems disruption. Some additional thinking:


Cost of drones: ~ $100. Disruption value: ~$40-60 million (110,000 x $400 per ticket). ROI = $500,000 for every $ invested

Method of attack: simple runway/terminal overflights. Easiest to plan/accomplish.

Timing of overflights maximized impact. Initial flurry of overflights demonstrated it was a serious threat. Infrequent but constant overflights showed the threat was still present. No rapid return to business as usual possible.

Here's some thinking on the countermeasures being deployed the authorities and how they can be overcome.


Snipers/Laser. One counter to this: vary the location of the overflight in order make it harder to preposition. If the drone is shot down, the easy counter is to send a second drone (and a third, etc.). They are inexpensive and easy to replace.

Jamming systems. Most recreational drone pilots use a control system to 'fly' the drone. If so, jamming would be effective. Easy counter: let the drone fly itself. A set pattern, either via GPS or time/distance calculations.

Searching for the pilot. Helicopters with infrared and vehicle homing in on the signal. Counter (slightly more complex to the others): set up multiple drones to take off and fly a pattern on their own either via remote Internet activation or via timed release.

Now This Woman Knows How To Make The Best Of A Gun BuyBack Program

Seriously, this is a Smart woman!

https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/19/baltimores-gun-buyback-program-is-insane

The Future of Worldwide Gun Control...

....is pretty much going nowhere according to numerous indicators.

Tell people they can't buy something legally, hell, they'll just make it themselves or pay someone to do it under the table.

I believe the expression is 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention'.

https://reason.com/archives/2018/11/29/when-governments-restrict-guns-people-ma

Are People Getting Weaker In The Digital Age?

I found the following article pretty interesting. In particular, the part at the end about the fact tghat while lifespans are increasing, general health is not.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/raising-the-american-weakling

So Banning Firearms in The U.K. Reduces Violent Crime....Not

And someone needs to tell them that making sharp, pointy objects illegal is pretty much a fruitless endeavor as well.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/knife-crime-epidemic-sweeping-across-the-uk-sees-no-end-in-sight

How A Well Dressed Gentleman Carried And Used His .45 Colt Revolver in 1918

The below scan is from the Volume XLII, Number 6, December, 1918 issue of Outdoor Life. You'll notice the gentlemen in the photos display several types of Colt Revolvers as well as varying ways to carry and use them.
Both Single and Double revolvers are show as well pairing with a knife, how to push a companion out of the way of danger, as well several locations for carrying and using your knee as a brace to steady your aim.

As with the 'Self Defense in the Street' manual by Renaud that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, people in the early 20th century were far more aware of practical methods of protecting themselves from criminals than we would like to think.



Remember to click on the image to increase the viewing size. Make sure you read the dialog at the bottom of the pictures.

On The Subject Of Unarmed Knife Defenses

I'm a fan of Rory Miller's material. About a year ago he quit posting at his Chiron Blog and pretty much moved on to bigger and better forms of Social Media. While scanning through some of his older Blog posts I found the one I've linked to below. it's right in line with my own thoughts on the subject of defending yourself against a knifer when you're unarmed.

Frankly, as the years have passed and I've seen or tried a boatload of empty handed knife defenses I've come to an inescapable conclusion.

They all suck.

Miller's Blog Post, which BTW is 11 years old, does a nice job of summing things up in a nutshell.

http://chirontraining.blogspot.com/2007/09/why-i-dont-pretend-to-teach-knife.html