Among the many problems in the government's case, aside from the fact that this is the government's fourth trial, was the "revelation" that the Bureau of Land Management used snipers trained on protesters, which this column reported three years ago. The contractors used by the government as snipers lost their nerve when told that they themselves were under the observation of snipers from one of the militias present. Or so the story goes.
Two years after the standoff this column argued that the entire episode was driven by government snitches, from the false information that a government drone unit was targeting the gathering to the film crew folding a documentary, was operated by the government.
Instead of the law being used to protect everyone, it was applied to the federal government's political enemies, most of whom were paid by the government to begin with.
Calling it Kabuki Theater is too kind of a characterization.
Shifting gears, Hershel Smith featured some information on breaking in a new rifle barrel. And the tips offered by his readers range from cleaning the gun, especially the chamber after each single shot for the first ten, to cleaning it after the first several magazines fired, to cleaning it when you get around to it.
One of the comments mentions that cleaning the chamber helps more than the rest of the barrel. On the AK-74, cleaning the crown of metal fouling is the main thing you will be doing after the 15th magazine you fire. Your experience may vary.
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Pistol ammunition prices were mostly steady. Rifle ammunition prices were mostly steady.
Prices for used pistols were lower. Prices for used rifles were mostly lower.
New Lows:
Texas: .308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic): DPMS: $650
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Red River Reloading, Silver Bear, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: East Carolina trading, Own brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .21 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo King, Estate, FMJ, Brass Casing, .21 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: FedArm, Own Brand, TPMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Extreme Reloading, Own Brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Fedarm, Own Brand, RN, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.38 Special, 158 Grain, From Last Week: -.05 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Own Brand, JSP, Brass Casing, .21 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Defender Ammunition, Own brand, FN, Brass Casing, Reloads, .23 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each)
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: AmmoMen, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.30-06 Springfield 145 Grain. From Last Week: Unchanged (6 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .54 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: United Nations Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .53 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (9 Weeks))
.300 Winchester Magnum 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Unchanged (3 Weeks), Brass Casing, SP, .81 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Target Sports USA, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .85 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
.338 Lapua Magnum 250 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, HPBT, 2.50 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 200 rounds: Cabelas, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, HPBT, 2.80 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo King, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2017))
#1
Prosecutorial misconduct? Withholding of information by the prosecution? Mueller has some team members who have been accused of this sort of prosecutorial misconduct.
[MAIL] Travellers from the UK could find themselves facing delays and extra paperwork once the new, blue coloured passports are introduced, EU officials have warned.
Theresa May hailed the decision to ditch the European Union burgundy design to revert to navy from October 2019 as an expression of the UK's renewed 'sovereignty and independence'.
But offficials in Brussels said holders of any colour of British passport could see their travel rights diminished after Brexit unless there were further negotiating concessions.
One senior official told The Guardian 'depending on how negotiations go on all free movement issues after Brexit' there was a significant risk that Britons would lose the right to use a fast-track citizens lane when travelling on the continent. They may also be obliged to use a new visa waiver scheme the EU travel information and authorisation system (Etias).
The scheme is modeled on the US Esta scheme and could require British travellers to Europe to register in advance and also pay a small administration fee. One expert warned it is unlikely Britain will retain fast-track privileges unless there is further shift in the prime minister's red lines on immigration.
'At the moment, it looks absolutely certain that we won't be able to go through the European citizens lane because the legal code in the Schengen borders code says it is only for citizens or people with free movement rights,' said Steve Peers, a professor of law at Essex University.
Since the decision to revert to blue passports, the Home Office has confirmed UK could have had blue passports at any time and had voluntarily adopted an EU recommendation to introduce burgundy passports. 1415 Agincourt rules apply.
#2
I remember in the 70s when my mil ID and pass form got me through all countries in Western Europe. Of course that was before the EUSSR made an appearance.
h/t Instapundit
I’ve never heard this much crazy talk about a relatively modest reduction of taxes. Rosie O’Donnell tried to bribe senators on Twitter; journalists who like to pass as sane, if not bipartisan, screech that this is the end of civilization; idiots unable to differentiate between being forced to pay a penalty for not signing on to the truly crappy Obamacare healthy insurance and having health care, declare we want our neighbors to die.
...But no, in Democrats' minds, every cut back of government taxes or power is the end of civilization. In their addled little brains, a centralized and powerful government has come to symbolize civilization.
From things my colleagues have posted since the tax bill passed, I have ventured to compile an imaginary diary from a world in which the left’s ideas are reality. I also have ventured to make it five days, because frankly, they are extrapolating the end of the world, and even I ‐ with my experience of fiction writing ‐ can’t make that happen in two days.
There is a photo of the formerly living terrorist protesting on his stumps at the link.
[Ynet] Analysis: Israel was widely condemned over the death of the 'innocent' double amputee Ibrahim Abu Thuraya in Gazoo protests. But digging into his history shows he was a member of a terror group that morphed into Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", and an agitator who wanted to 'die a martyr.'
Last Friday, Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, a disabled person who uses a wheelchair, who participated in a protest meters from the border fence in Gazoo, was killed. Israel was widely criticized for killing Abu Thuraya and in some cases accused that an IDF sniper deliberately shot him.
Zeid al-Hussein, United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... High Commissioner for Human Rights, published a condemnation claiming the protester did not pose a threat so there was no justification for his death. The Guardian published the story under the title "'A shocking and wanton act': Israel accused over death of wheelchair user". The Telegraph reported "How a dead man in a wheelchair became a symbol of Paleostinian anger over Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s Jerusalem decision".
Israel gave a different version of events. According to the IDF’s investigation, "Riot control equipment was used in the protest area. A few live rounds were fired towards the main instigators. Troops received approval prior to shooting each round by a senior commander in the field. No live fire was aimed at Abu Thuraya".
In reports worldwide, Abu Thuraya has been described as an innocent victim, having lost his legs as a result of an Israeli bombing during Operation Cast Lead in 2008 and as a protester brutally shot without any justification.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... new information recently uncovered, makes the story questionable. Tomer Ilan, an Israeli activist, has researched Abu Thuraya’s history and found that his family members have reported to the media on his last words the day before the protest. Russia Today reports he told his family, "Brother, forgive me. This is the last night you will see me. And you, my mother, forgive me, and you my sisters, you all forgive me... He kissed the hand and the leg of my father and said to him: Father, forgive me. This is the last night you will see me, as I intend to be a martyr. I am bored of this life, I have no legs and I have nothing. I want to die and rest from life." Mondoweiss quotes similar a testimony by a family member.
Abu Thuraya’s alleged injury as an innocent civilian by an IDF bombing on his home in 2008, has also been found to be totally inaccurate. The Independent reported in 2005 that Abu Thuraya, a Fatah Force 17 member, was shot in the leg, in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. His membership in Fatah’s Force 17 is also reported in the 2010 book "Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement" By Beverley Milton-Edwards, Stephen Farrell".
A Paleostinian website reports he was injured again and lost his legs in April 2008 in battle with the IDF, as a Hamas combatant, 8 months before Operation Cast Lead.
The circumstances of Abu Thuraya’s death last week remain unclear. His past as a terrorist may not be related to the protest in which he was killed. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... in stark contrast to worldwide media reports, he was not an innocent civilian but a member of terrorist groups Force 17 and later Hamas, was injured twice while serving these groups, and went to last Friday’s protest in order to die as a "martyr".
#3
Logos has 2 primary meanings these days, one is in Christian exegesis, Logos is God and "Word" - meaning the ground truth that underlays everything. In the beginning, the Word was with God and God was the Word (Christ is the Word).
Philosophically, Logos goes to that idea of ground truth, the basic facts, and logic that an argument is made on top of - the foundation for facts, and for truth. Liberals have a problem with this because they build their house on sand (relativism), which allows them to change at a whim. Demanding the ground truth of progressives and liberals confuses them because they have no answer - they are incapable of producing one that will allow logic to follow, because they have no solid basis, Logos, for their premise. The concept of ground truth, of absolutes, is so alien they cannot process it in many cases.
Its like trying to explain Tsiolkovsky's rocket equation and Kepler's laws of orbital mechanics to a social justice womens studies major. They will end up looking at you slack-jawed and stupid, then start screeching about emotions and feelings. The rocket equation doesn't care how you feel, either you produce enough delta-V and in the correct magnitude and direction, and you get to orbit, or you do not and instead fall back to earth. its numbers and math and physics. Emotion has no bearing.
#5
Aside from the posted article, the stated "agenda and views" of the website are interesting. There is no quarrel with me although I've got a feeling CAIR and the current crop of statists might vehemently differ.
1. Islam is a religious political and cultural system. Its no more deserving of protection than that of Nazism or Communism with which, by the way, it shares a great deal. Islam is not a race and therefore criticism of it is not racist.
2. Regarding Irrational Leftism and its offspring, political correctness and moral and cultural relativism--The greater threat to Classical civilisation is that of irrational leftism.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.