Whitey Bulger gets Whacked

James "Whitey" Bulger, king of the Irish Mob in Boston through the 70's and 80's and FBI Informant (who evaded the Law for 16 years until being caught in 2011 and convicted on multiple felonies including murder in 2013) was killed in a West Virginia Federal Penitentiary yesterday.

In the facility less than one day he was found beaten to death with his eyes gouged and his tongue cut up (an attempt having been made to cut it out). Those two specific injuries typical of punishment for a "rat" as a result of his informing on the Italian Mob (as well as others) that led to the Italian Mob in Boston being badly damaged.

Criminal mastermind, cold blooded psychopath, FBI informant.

Good riddance.

http://www.tmz.com/2018/10/31/whitey-bulger-attack-tongue-cut-eye-gouging-mob-hit/

More on Combatives Training - Use Of The BOB Training Dummy

More on Combatives Training - Use Of The BOB Training Dummy
In a recent Previous Blog Post;

http://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2018/06/combatives-and-use-of-force-on-force.html

I talked about the value of adding Force On Force to your Combatives training. I also talked about drilling with partners, and on BOB training dummies.

The BOB training dummy gets a lot of bad press from other self defense styles. I'm going to save myself some typing time by referencing an article from another website. It's concise and to the point, and gives all the reasons why a BOB training dummy makes a practical addition to the striking portions your training program whatever style it may be.

I'd also like to point out that whenever some style other than Combatives decides to deride the BOB Dummy, they never seem to criticize training with the heavy bag. Not to mention that you will find a BOB or Spar-Pro training dummy in virtually every MMA gym around.

If anybody has a reason for why that is, feel free to let me know.

http://themartialist.net/is-it-stupid-to-train-on-a-body-opponent-bag-bob

Review - Close Shaves: The Complete Book Of Razor Fighting by Bradley Steiner

CLOSE SHAVES: The Complete Book Of Razor Fighting
Loompanic Press Pub. 1979

I already owned 'No Second Chance', and 'Subway Survival', so when the chance came to pick up Close Shaves second hand for less than $6.00, I went for it. I had hesitated for several years to pick this book up. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of straight razors as defensive weapons. It's not the 1930's anymore and there are more practical personal defense weapons out there.
But it was Bradley Steiner originally writing the Personal Security column at Guns & Ammo magazine that first got me started on the road to Combatives and practical self defense, as well as a few other people I know, so I figured it was time to take a look

In my opinion, CLOSE SHAVES did NOT convince me that razors are great self-defense weapons. However, having read the book I am convinced that it is a well written KNIFE "fighting" book along the lines of Pentecosts' "Put em' Down, Take em' Out".

Steiner's primary reasons for suggesting the razor for self-defense are, basically, razors are light, small, easy to carry, inexpensive, fast to deploy, and can be opened with one hand.
Has anybody noticed that I have just defined your average modern day one hand opening 'tactical' folder?

(NOTE: I have truly come to hate the use of the word tactical for one-hand opening folders as well as pretty much everything else. It has become nothing more than an excuse, in this particular case, to overcharge people for pocketknives with an extra feature)

Steiner does not attempt to say that razors are equal to or better than a full-sized fixed blade combat knife. He does not advocate getting into a "razor fight". His basic premise is that as long as you're paying attention to your surroundings, and see trouble coming down the road, you can quickly deploy your edged weapon and have it ready for when the defecation hits the oscillation.

His tactics with the razor are simple, direct, and to a large degree rely on deception, and a pre-emptive sneak attack. Precisely the sort of tactics needed when using a small edged weapon such as a 'tactical folder' with a 3" to 4" blade. As a matter of fact, the modern locking folder has become the natural successor to the razor simply because it meets all the criteria mentioned above, AND it has a lock and is therefore far less likely to come back and injure you, the user. Several of the grip methods he shows put the Razor, in my opinion, in an unstable postion in your hand. One of his tactics, a recurring theme even in his unarmed combat manuals, is throwing something into your assailants eyes prior to initiating your attack.

In conclusion, I think that CLOSE SHAVES is a viable book for someone looking for a few practical tactics and techniques to build a simple repertoire of knife handling/using skills that rely on surprise, deception, and gross motor skills.

Overall, a book worth adding to your library, as long as you don't overpay for it.

NOTE: This is a slightly edited version of a review that I originally wrote for James Sass's old Close Combat board, dated 2-14-02

The Future of Low Level Warfare and The Involvement of Criminal Cartels

The website is Foreignpolicy.com. They limit the amount of articles you can read per month for free. If you want to subscribe (personally, I don't myself)the cost is $9.00 per month. I've found the articles to be well written and relatively non-partisan. This one caught my eye and I thought it would of interest to whoever out there reads my Blog.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/21/the-coming-crime-wars/

Trump Gets More Judicial Picks Through The Senate

He now has 99 judges appointed to the bench since he assumed office. This is really playing the long game.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/11/senate-confirms-15-trump-judicial-nominees/

Another Reason Trump is Smarter Than The Clintons

So Called Combatives Instructors And Real Hypocrisy

There was a recent Blog post by an instructor who use the word Combatives in the name of his website/business, but his program revolves almost completely around BJJ and Boxing. Essentially it's MMA based. The subject of his post concerned what he called the Hypocrisy of Combatives and other RBSD practitioners about issue of how you shouldn't go to the ground in a street encounter.

Although what really annoyed him was how they only warn of the danger of doing that in unarmed encounters, but somehow never talk about it to complain about people in gunfights not being concerned about a bad guys friends or partners coming to the rescue of their fellow bad guy.

Now he put out some convoluted explanation of how the one related to the other about how you always have to be aware of other potential threats when engaged in a fight armed or otherwise, but it really just came off kind of lame. The apples and oranges analogy comes to mind.
He put out the usual misquote about the whole going to the ground issue of "Combatives guys say never go to the ground", when the actual statement is "never go to the ground intentionally if you can help it, but if you do wind up on the ground then disengage as quickly as possible and get back on your feet".

Now to help prove his point he put up two videos. One was of a fight in a Las Vegas restaurant involving one patron using his grappling skills to subdue a belligerent drunk who was threatening the wait staff. The other involved to female store owners who used a handgun to fight off an armed robber. Now I will be the first to admit that luck and intestinal fortitude has as much to do with their success as their tactics and extremely sloppy skill at arms.

However the ground grappling incident in Vegas was another matter entirely. The Grappler involved was the UFC icon Matt Serra. The video provided by the Blog author showed Serra having already pinned the "bad guy" in the mount, and laughing about the whole thing until security showed up and took over. What the Blog author failed to mention was that there was another video that clearly showed that Mr. Serra understood that in the real world, before you get into a physical altercation with someone it pays to be sure of the situation.

The other video I speak of showed Mr. Serra sitting at a table a few feet away from the "bad guy" who was about 50lbs lighter, obviously drunk, and that his only companion or buddy was an unconscious and apparently also drunk female. The video also proved that Mr. Serra was not alone and also had at least one male friend with him. Now I'm not taking anything away from Matt Serra's abilities, his record speaks for itself, but it was pretty obvious that taking the belligerent drunk to the ground and restraining him was not going to present any real threat.

Yes, anything can happen, but the odds of this going wrong were not very high. Below is a link to a news article showing both videos;

http://www.ktvu.com/news/ufc-fighter-matt-serra-subdues-drunk-at-las-vegas-restaurant


Now the Blog author chose to show the Las Vegas video but he chose to happily pontificate about how there were hundreds of other videos on Youtube that clearly showed many cases of Grapplers going to the ground, winning, and not being subjected to a boot party by friends of his attacker. And I will agree that those videos do most certainly exist.

However there are also an extensive number of videos on Youtube showing when Grapplers went to the ground and wound up regretting it. Although admittedly finding them is not as easy as typing in "JJ practitioner wins fight". Not a lot of videos are described as "Grappler goes to the ground, starts winning and gets kicked to death by the losing guys friends". Now just as the other Blog author did, I will not attempt to list an untold number of Youtube videos proving my point, however I will link to what I feel is a sufficient number to prove that these incidents do happen, and not just once in a million times.

Before I link the videos let me just conclude by saying that as regards "Hypocrisy", Methinks the other Blog Author (whose name I will not mention and to whom I will not give any advertising for his website) doth protest too loudly.

Snowflake Teacher in Utah Gets Smacked Down for Violating Students 2nd Amendment Rights

Arrogant and stupid, a perfect set of characteristics for a modern day University Teachers Assistant.

Just not in Utah.

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2018/08/utah-second-amendment-zone/

Associated Press Admits In School Hardening Article That School Shooting Numbers Are Not An Epidemic

In A Time article (linked to within the link I'm posting below) they put the Number of School Shootings at 290 since 2013. However the FBI Statistics indicate the real number is 35. Still too high, but it shows the lies that the Mike Bloombergs funded 'Everytown For Gun Safety' organization are willing to spread to push their agenda.

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2018/10/ap-admits-school-shootings-uncommon/

Kavanaugh ConfIrmed

Chuck Schumer, Corey Booker, Kamala Harris and several others in the Democratic Party must be banging their heads on the wall asking what the Hell happened.

https://www.apnews.com/8234f0b8a6194d8b89ff79f9b0c94f35/Kavanaugh-is-confirmed:-Senate-Oks-Supreme-Court-nominee

Another Reason Combatives Get A Bad Name

Once again, Christophe Clugston, the "Einstein" of the Combatives world provides more fodder for the MMA crowd to bash Combatives instructors. I've discussed Mr. Comrhac Bas, oh excuse me, it's Mr. Combat-Judo these days, in an earlier Blog Post;

Why Combatives Gets A Bad Reputation

Now, as if that Youtube video wasn't telling enough, Mr. Clugston has added to his reputation by showing that not only is he an embarrassment to the Combatives field, but also to the mathematics world.

How so you ask? Allow me to explain.

At his Combat-Judo site he has an attached Blog. At this Blog he has an article entitled "In the USA alone there is a murder every 60 seconds–yes, every minute someone is killed."

Okay, now being a person whose line of work involved the use of math every day I thought that his number seemed a little out of whack. So I did the math myself.

1 murder per minute x 60 min = 60 murders per hour.
60 murders per hour x 24 hrs = 1440 murders per day.
1440 murders per day x 365 days = 525,600 murders per year.

Now 525,600 murders per year sounded just a bit on the high side to me, ahem. So I did a quick search and found
that for the last full year that the FBI had issued it's final numbers (2016) the actual number of Homicides was 17,250.

Now I understand that a little bit of hype is to be expected in most business endeavors, but seriously WTF???

Now don't take my word for it people, just go here;
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/murder

So remember people, Chris Clugston is a a man whose Combatives skills are exceeded only by his Mathematical abilities!

Oh yeah............

China Does It Again

When the fuck will the assholes that run this country and the rest of the world finally recognize and acknowledge the fact that Russia is no longer the primary threat in the world, it's CHINA.

The following article just points out the stupidity of buying electronics manufactured by the Chinese. As I wrote in two earlier posts

https://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2017/12/drones-made-in-china-digital-info-being.html

http://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2017/08/this-is-what-happens-when-you-outsource.html

This latest exposure of Chinese technological espionage is just another example of the rampant stupidity of both our own Government as well as that of the largest American based Tech giants.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

Chinese Made Military Gear Replacing American Made Equipment

As the U.S. cuts off nations that have been deemed unfriendly to American interests or for Human Rights violations, the Chinese Military Technology industry has moved rapidly to fill the gap. It's another example of their ever expanding and evolving presence in the both global economics and military expansion.

While some asshats in the U.S. and around the world continue to tout Russia as the primary threat to the free world, China has steadily upgraded their capabilities and reach. Between continuing the expansion of their Naval Forces by having achieved 40% of their goal of fielding 5 Carrier Battle Groups by 2025, as well as making overtures to the crumbling government of Venezuela (gee, you think maybe they're looking for a good deal on oil as well as a friendly harbor or two that will allow a Chinese Naval Presence in the South Atlantic?) they are becoming more overt about their intentions.

But most of the world just buries it's head in the sand. The following article is just another example of China expanding it's base by building relationships and increasing market share for their products, military or otherwise.

https://apnews.com/1da29d68e3cc47b58631768c1dcfa445

On The Subject Of Proper Training

The Surveillance State is Alive and Well

You can't trust anything these days no matter how innocuous;



https://qz.com/1400791/that-road-sign-telling-you-how-fast-youre-driving-may-be-part-of-a-us-government-surveillance-network/