Happy New Year!!

 

Looks Like China Has A New Way Of 'Disappearing" Undesirables

 From The The Forward Observer Website, The Daily Situation column. 12-28-2021

DISAPPEARED; RESIDENTIAL SURVEILLANCE AT A DESIGNATED LOCATION: China is using a novel method of controlling dissent. Instead of isolating dissidents and political opponents in jails or prisons, they are using “residential locations.” The new term is Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location, or RSDL for short. Two Canadian citizens recently released from RSDL described their harrowing experience. They said they were detained at an unknown residential location for over 1000 days, isolated from the outside world, denied visitors, and forced to live in a single windowless cell with lights on 24 hours a day. Chinese human rights activists say this new detention method has been used on over 50,000 Chinese citizens to date, some of which have yet to return from RSDL. According to activists, RSDL is China’s new preferred method of disappearing troublemakers and has become a feared tool of oppression by the population.

 

Other References;

 https://asianlite.com/2021/top-news/china-steps-up-secret-residential-surveillance/

 https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/what-happens-china-s-secret-rsdl-prisons

A Discussion on Sport Savate vs 'Defense danse Larue' (Street Self Defense) Mark Hatmaker interviews Craig Gemeiner

 

Most of you regular guys here know who Craig is. He's been a member at the Various forums on Close Combat For close to 20 years now. For those of you who don't know him, Craig is an Australian  Martial Arts and self defense instructor who has worked for years training both Combat Athletes for Sports competition as well as reviving the old style Self Defense methods that virtually disappeared in the wake of WW1 due to the large number of male deaths in combat.

He range of expertise covers unarmed combat, armed (cane/walking stick, longer sticks), and fencing.

I was fortunate to train with Craig twice back around 2010/2011. The man knows his business!

For more info about Craig;

 https://gemeineracademy.wordpress.com/

https://defensedanslarue.wordpress.com/ 

 https://blackbeltmag.com/la-canne-savates-walking-stick-weapon-art

 https://lacannevigny.wordpress.com/

At several of these sites will you will find articles and essays by both our own Ralph Grasso and even a couple of reviews by yours truly.

And now, on to the interview.

 https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/2019/10/a-conversation-with-craig-gemeiner-mark.html?spref=pi

Merry Christmas!! 2021 Style..........

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Discuss How To Store Your Home Defense Shotgun

Another Shotgun Tutorial  from The Lucky Gunner Ammo Youtube Channel.  Some of you may disagree with  a few parts of this video, but even the guy giving the discussion says it's fine if you do. Personally, I tend to agree with him.

Your Mileage May Vary!

Our Fearless Leaders

 Shits

 

Giggles 

 

 Babbles

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today, We Discuss What To Feed Your Shotgun. To Which The Answer Is, Pretty Much Anything

 The title to this video pretty much says it all!

So Did Anybody Notice How Amazon Fucked Up Two Days Ago?? If You Didn't, You Probably Don't Have A House Full "Smart" Home Appliances.

 Probably not since it got virtually no coverage on TV or in the Mainstream Press.

Two days ago I ordered a Kindle eBook. You know, instant gratification?  So I clicked Buy Now, paid, and checked my Kindle.

Nothing.

Zip.

Zilch.

Nada.

I kept trying to Download, I went back to Amazon to make sure the transaction had gone through. No joy.

So I went to the Section on the Website where your Digital eBooks are stored. Or at least I tried to go there. All I got was the "OOPS, that page is not available" notification with the picture of the cute dog.

Strange, I thought. But I decided to wait until the next day to try and find out what happened. Woke up the next day, checked my Kindle and Lo and Behold, there it was. The book I had ordered had appeared. Didn't think much of, it, just figured there had been some sort of a glitch.

Then a little while later I found 2 articles buried on the Internet about just how "little" the glitch wasn't!

 In a nutshell, the Amazon Cloud Web Services went down. Hard.

If you owned any Amazon Smart Home products, you weren't a happy camper. Smart refrigerators stopped working, Smart thermostats stopped working. Smart lamps stopped turning on/off, Alexa wouldn't listen or talk to you, front door locks wouldn't let you in or out, Roomba cleaners, TV's, and the list goes on.

This is what happens when you're too lazy to do shit for yourself that can be done with the touch of a button or the tap of an Icon on your Phone.

And just for the ultimate bad news, Amazon Web Services control 33% of the Global Cloud Network.

Isn't that just great? 😐

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/how-amazon-outage-left-smart-homes-not-so-smart-after-all/ar-AARAEZv

 

 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/09/how-the-aws-outage-wreaked-havoc-across-the-us.html

So What DID All Those First Time Panic Gun Buyers Get For Themselves (And How Did It Work Out For Them) *** And What About The Ammo Shortage?

 So in the aftermath of all the panic buying of guns in the wake of all the civil unrest in 2020/2021, what happened after a bunch of non-informed first time gun buyers suddenly realized that maybe they should have done a little research before they plopped down their cash?

Well read on and find out what was the most returned handgun at Retail Gun Stores (and why).......

And now, for the most realistic explanation (to me at least) why there is such a shortage of certain calibers of otherwise common Ammunition......

 

 

 

 

So Much For The "Strident Calls For Handgun Bans"

 

Seems like riots, looting, the rise in armed robberies is taking a toll on peoples thoughts about enacting Handgun Bans.

And so Reality Rears It's ugly Head!

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2021/11/gun-control-support/

So, Anybody Wondering What's Been Going On In Afghanistan Since The U.S. Military Pulled Out??

Well, it ain't been good. This Article in the link below should simply reinforce what anybody with a few functioning brain cells would have already anticipated (current government employees excepted of course). With the unifying factor of the hatred of the U.S. Military gone, power moves between the various Taliban groups are starting to be made, and factions that had worked together previously are now starting to jockey for power.

The Haqqani Network (supported by the Pakistani ISI aka: Pakastani Intelligence) is already making inroads as the main power brokers in the Taliban. Actual physical confrontations between Haqqani members and other long time Taliban leaders have resulted in the latter leaving Kabul and returning to their respective provincial strongholds. Add in the inability of the new government to deal with  ISIS-K  in Khorasan Province and the ultimate insult of not yet having secured control of the Panjshir valley region is quickly pointing to a scenario where Afghanistan devolves into another morass of warring provinces led by a new crop of Warlords.

Good old A-Stan, nothing has changed since Alexander the Great tried to conquer them 2300 years ago. 

They remain the 'Graveyard Of Empires'

 https://warontherocks.com/2021/11/the-haqqani-network-afghanistans-new-power-players/