[Daily Caller] Scientists were shocked by what they found while pouring over accounts by famous South Pole explorers from about a century ago -- findings that could change the way experts think about Antarctica and global warming.
Researchers found that Antarctic sea ice extent has barely changed since Ernest Shackleton’s botched expedition to map out the South Pole in 1917.
Antarctic sea ice conditions in Shackleton’s day mirrored those of today, according to a new study using logs compiled by Shackleton, in addition to data from other noteworthy Antarctic forays during the early 20th Century.
Lead researcher Dr. Jonathan Day and his team were the first to calculate Antarctic sea ice conditions prior to the 1930s. Day estimates sea ice extent ranged from 3.3 and 4.3 million square miles and continued to grow into the 1950s.
#1
A few months ago I read The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, who accompanied Scott on his push to the Pole, but who (among many) was not selected to go to the Pole itself (and so lived to tell the tale).
At one point, in a preliminary expedition, he and several other men camped on the sea ice, at a spot which you would have thought "as good as terra firma". Shackleton had had a depot nearby.
They woke in the middle of the night to find the ice cracking. One of their ponies was missing, having fallen into a crack that opened beneath him. The immediately scrambled to leave, their solid ice turning to ice floes, and the men barely got to solid ground in time. (There's a gripping bit about the ponies which I'll spare you.)
That vast shelf of solid, as they thought, ice had broken up and was swept out to sea within the course of a day or two. This suggests that maybe the extent of sea ice isn't as permanent or indicative a thing as the media believes.
A push is on nationwide to change the National Firearms Act to deregulate sales of silencers. I have been reading about this for a while, and while I offered nothing in commentary, I do have an opinion about it.
Professionals use silencers, as in special operations people. The silencer reduces muzzle flash in some cases and reduces sound. The argument for legalizing silencers for the civilian shooter is the health and safety benefit of reducing noise exposure.
As I understand it, silencers are most effective when coupled with subsonic munitions. Watching videos a few years back, I recall one in which the shooter was demonstrating his silencer before a crowd at a range, first firing regular 5.56x45mm rounds with slightly reduced noise, and then using subsonic cartridges for a profound reduction in noise.
But using a silencer comes at a cost. Silencers reduced the muzzle velocity of the round being fired. If you plan to use a silencer when hunting, you will receive, in my opinion, very little advantage outside of the noise reduction. A round fired from a rifle fitted with a silencer will have its impact and penetration reduced.
Another cost is operation. Very few semiautomatic rifles can handle subsonic munitions. Firing a round from an off the shelf semiautomatic forces the operator in some cases to manually cycle the feed. If you are hunting for that one kill shot against game, it's not a problem.
The most vexing problem is re-zeroing your rifle to take advantage of the silencer. Some ARs, such as the A3 models are made without any sights at all. The owner/user has to install his own sights, then zero into the rifle to as small a cone as possible, then adjust the zero at a rifle range.
It ain't like Hollywood where you slap on the trusty, rusty suppressor in the field, then go shooting bad guys. It takes work and planning.
Professionals using suppressors are trained in its use to get the greatest tactical advantage in the noise reduction rating. That said, you can still hear the rifle being fired.
Don't read all this as an opinion against silencers. If you got the money, honey, etc.
Prices for pistol ammunition were steady. Prices for rifle ammunition were mixed.
Prices for used pistols were mixed. Prices for used rifles were mixed.
New Lows:
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.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Unlimited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
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#1
Thanks, Chris, for the good balanced article on silencers. Like my late dad used to say, "it's not the answer to a maiden's prayer." It's a tool for appropriate applications.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2016 9:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The argument for legalizing silencers for the civilian shooter is the health and safety benefit of reducing noise exposure.
I'm reminded of the Nyclad bullet and it's introduction to reduce lead pollution on indoor ranges. Homegrowns quickly moved to a Teflon coating in hopes of increased penetration.
I expect the single pulse/reaction mass issue will quickly be addressed once the $200 tax stamp registration requirement is removed.
#4
Granted, it's just symantecs but the correct term is "suppressor" not "silencer". This may sound trivial but the anti-gun factions continue to perpetuate the vision of Hollywood assassins as a way to limit the commercial sale of these tools.
[GatestoneInstitute] France is in turmoil. "Migrants" arriving from Africa and the Middle East sow disorder and insecurity in many cities. The huge slum commonly known as the "jungle of Calais" has just been dismantled, but other slums are being created each day. In eastern Paris, streets have been covered with corrugated sheets, oilcloth and disjointed boards.
Violence is commonplace. France's 572 "no-go zones," officially defined as "sensitive urban areas", continue to grow, and police officers who approach them often suffer the consequences.
No terrorist attacks have taken place since the slaughter of a priest in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on July 26, 2016, but intelligence services see that jihadists have returned from the Middle East and are ready to act, and that riots may break out anywhere, any time, on any pretext.
Although overwhelmed by a domestic situation it barely controls, the French government still intervenes in the world affairs: a "Palestinian state" is still its favorite cause, Israel its favorite scapegoat.
For many years, France seems to have built its entire foreign policy on aligning itself with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC): 56 Islamic countries plus the Palestinians. Originally, France's dreams might have been of displacing America as a world power, accessing inexpensive oil, business deals with oil-rich Islamic states, and the prayer of no domestic terrorism. All four have been washouts. It is also obvious that France has more urgent problems to solve.
The Palestinians began to use international terrorism, and France chose to accept this terrorism so long as France was not affected. At the same time, France welcomed mass-immigration from the Arab-Muslim world, evidently as part of a Muslim wish to expand Islam. The Muslim population has since grown in numbers, while failing to assimilate.
More and more, French Muslims consider themselves Muslim first. Many claim that the West is at war with Islam; they see France and Israel as part of the West, so they are at war with them both. They see that France is anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, but they also see that several French politicians maintain ties with Israel, so they likely think that France is not anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian enough.
They see that France tolerates Palestinian terrorism, and seem not to understand why France would fight Islamic terrorism in other places.
To please its Muslims, the French government may believe it has no choice other than to be as pro-Palestinian and as anti-Israel as possible -- even though it looks as if this policy is failing badly in the polls.
Perhaps France's current government is hoping that it might delay the disaster a bit and avoid a civil war. Perhaps, they might hope, the "no go zones" will not explode -- at least on their watch.
France today has six million Muslims, 10% of its population, and the percentage is growing. Polls show that one-third of French Muslims want the full application of Islamic sharia law. They also show that the overwhelming majority of French Muslims support jihad, and especially jihad against Israel, a country they would like to see erased from the face of earth.
Jews are leaving France in record numbers, and these departures do not stop. The rest of the French population clearly sees the extreme seriousness of what is happening. Some of them are angry and in a state of revolt; others seem resigned to the worst: an Islamist takeover of Europe.
[GP] CNN’s Christiane Amanpour received the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award from her liberal colleagues for her work in the cause of press freedom at the International Press Freedom Awards.
Amanpour is a committed leftist. During her acceptance speech Amanpour compared Donald Trump to the Iranian Ayatollahs and Turkish hardliner President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Amanpour railed against Republican president-elect Donald Trump and called on liberal media to defeat him.
Unreal. We in the press, by our power, can actually undermine leadership. ~ Christiane Amanpour
#2
She's red from Hong Kong to Karachi...
Photographer's vest and Versace.
It may not be pleasant,
But, boy, to be present
When Comrade Christiane meets Fallaci!
Oof. Forcing 'em this morning. Rattling off the porcelain.
#7
I'd like to see him do a total passport invalidation on Day 1 followed by a total re-examination of those passports. We don't want all those Hollywood types up here in Canuckistan.
#8
We in the press, by our power, can actually undermine leadership. ~ Christiane Amanpour
Does she realize this 'power' and their credibility is fading every day? Trump's ready to bypass and ignore the media for four years. Where will 'the press' be at that point?
[DAWN] ON Thursday, Sindh did Pakistain proud. The provincial assembly spoke with one voice, resoundingly and with conviction, for minority communities living in Sindh when it unanimously passed a law criminalising forced conversions. Tabled last year by a PML-F politician, Nand Kumar Goklani as a private bill, the Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Act, 2015 stipulates a sentence of between five years and life imprisonment for those found guilty of forcible conversion, along with a fine to be paid to the victim. Anyone who performs or facilitates the marriage of a victim of forced conversion is liable to a three-year prison term as well as a fine payable to the victim. Where forced conversion is alleged, the victims will be given 21 days by the court to arrive at an independent decision regarding their change of faith before action under this law is initiated. And a change of religion by minors will not be recognised until they reach the age of majority.
Although the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion, the situation demanded the passage of such a law. Forced conversions have long been an unfortunate reality here, an inevitable consequence of the ideological narrative that has pervaded the public space over the past few decades. In such an environment, it is difficult, even risky, to argue that compelling a person to change their faith through duress or pressure, whether physical, emotional or psychological, is immoral and unethical. For the same reason, forced conversions are almost impossible to reverse: if victims assert their adherence to their original faith, it can attract accusations of apostasy and leave them vulnerable to religious vigilantism. Human rights organizations estimate that around 1,000 women and maidens of tender years -- largely from Hindu and Christian families, in Sindh and Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... respectively -- are forcibly converted every year after being kidnapped, and then married to Moslems, often the abductors themselves. While it is admittedly not always easy to determine if a conversion is forced or whether the individual has taken the step of their own volition, a law such as the one recently passed addresses the circumstances in which forced conversions usually happen and ends the impunity with which the perpetrators practise it. Unlike many other laws that address social ills, it should also be comparatively easier to implement.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... this progressive legislation will almost certainly draw the ire of self-appointed guardians of the faith, the same lobby that creates an intimidating atmosphere in courtrooms where families of women and maidens of tender years allegedly converted by force seek justice for their loved ones. Not only should the politicians hold their ground, but other provinces should follow suit. By signalling so decisively to the nation that coercion in matters of faith is unacceptable, Sindh has laid down a framework that can enable us to be a better people.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Unlike many other laws that address social ills, it should also be comparatively easier to implement.
[DAWN] AS the Death EaterIslamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group gets pounded on the battlefield, it has resorted to a familiar tactic: the mass slaughter of civilians. On Thursday, around 100 pilgrims returning from Arbaeen -- as Imam Hussain’s chehlum is also known -- in Karbala were killed as a massive truck bomb ploughed into buses in the Iraqi town of Hilla. Most of the victims were reportedly Iranian. Between 17 million and 20 million people had gathered in Iraq over the past few weeks to march to Karbala for Arbaeen. Protecting this mass gathering of humanity was indeed a challenge for the Iraqi forces; around 25,000 troops had been dispatched to Karbala for security. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... while the administration managed to protect the holy city, the hard boyz struck a relatively more vulnerable spot. Some commentators have said the Hilla attack could be a diversionary tactic to take attention away from djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , where the Iraqis are leading the operation to liberate this key city from IS clutches. The Iranians are playing a major role in assisting Iraqi forces, which is why, in its claim of responsibility, IS boasted it had targeted Iranians. Another major motivation for the attack is, of course, the rabidly sectarian nature of IS. Earlier this year, after the Iraqi government had freed Fallujah from IS’s grip, the terrorist outfit carried out a devastating bombing targeting a market in Baghdad’s Karrada area. Over 340 people were killed in that atrocity in July.
For Iraq to turn the page on it recent blood-soaked history, it is essential to ensure that IS does not have any space to operate from in the country. In order to prevent more horrific loss of life, the Mosul operation must be taken to a successful conclusion; the administration must remain on guard as IS has pledged to carry out more attacks on Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. In the aftermath of the Hilla tragedy, Iranian President Rouhani has called for an "all-out fight" against terrorism. Indeed, this is a call that all countries in the region should support. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... for such a fight to be successful, the Syrian quagmire needs to be resolved, as it has become a magnet for hard boy fighters. Naive as it may sound in this world of cunning geopolitics, regional countries as well as global powers must put aside their political differences and concentrate on the defeat of IS for the security of the entire region.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
It's their culture. What right do we westerners have to interfere and try to impose our norms on these people?
#2
Whatever all that blood is nourishing, it sure ain't Jefferson's "tree of liberty..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/26/2016 8:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
ISIS sure is enough to make one consider that whole deal about going after families. ISIS needs to be exterminated and that may be the only way to be sure.
#5
In Karbala ripen in autumn
The blood-nourished apples of Sodom.
They're not too nutritious
And taste pretty vicious,
But better not waste 'em -- we bought 'em.
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.
