Articles by Herschel Smith

Military.com.

The new guns and ammunition the Army just married and is expected to issue to combat arms units within the next decade will require soldiers to carry an even heavier load.

But information on how those weapons should outperform the guns they’re replacing — the justification for troops to shoulder extra weight on top of mountains of gear already injuring soldiers — is classified.

In April, the Army announced that Sig Sauer will produce replacements for the M4 rifle and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW, starting with a trial run of about 40 new guns late next year. Production is expected to ramp up when the Army opens a new ammo plant to produce the new 6.8mm rounds for those weapons around 2026.

Army officials have touted that the new XM5, the M4’s replacement, and XM250, set to replace the SAW, pack a much harder punch and will improve the combat performance of ground troops. But thus far, the service has declined to disclose evidence that those weapons outperform the M4 and SAW, including how far they can shoot accurately. And it’s unclear whether the Army has verified the ranges at which those new weapons can engage an enemy before committing to a multimillion-dollar contract.

[ … ]

The M4, the Army’s current standard-issue rifle used in the post-9/11 wars, can effectively engage targets at 500 meters. The SAW can suppress targets at around 800 meters.

For comparison, the standard-issue rifle for the Chinese military is the QBZ-95, which has a maximum effective range of 400 meters for a target.

Carrying weightier ammunition and less of it is a defeater for the notion of an area suppression weapon to begin with.  It verges on having another medium machine gun (the M240 as opposed to the light machine gun, the M249).

I suppose I should modify the statements above with the observation that the light machine gun is usually used by a single infantry fighter regardless of the fact that it is considered a “crew served weapon,” and the medium machine gun is in actual fact a crew served weapon.

I predict this won’t change a thing regarding the lethality of the armed forces, and that they should have focused on military and physical training rather than diversity.

They’re trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

If they really wanted to return to increased lethality, perhaps they should consider a legitimate role for grenadier in each squad again using the M79 rather than the shorter under-the-barrel design.

Via WiscoDave.

I could probably watch him dig a ditch and make it interesting.  On top of that, I learned something.

Via PJM.

See also Townhall.

See also Daily Wire.

I suspect the leak was from a clerk of one of the communist justices, and perhaps by a clerk for Roberts.  I also expect Roberts to side with the communists.

The intent, of course, is to pressure the court to change, and/or to pressure Congress for a law in order to render the decision moot.

If the Congress becomes involved, I expect some states will ignore Congress and do what they want.  Then I expect Congress to withhold funds for all sorts of things, after which those states will further separate from FedGov.

Some states will keep it, of course, and some states will legalize worship services to Baal on the steps of their capitols while they kill babies in vats of boiling oil.

The Balkanization of America will continue apace, and issues such as gun rights, abortion and taxes will continue to render decisions made in Washington less relevant.  You get to pick your state.

If the majority stands strong, this isn’t a huge win on the national level, but it is for states who will now determine what sort of society they want to live in.

The difficulty here is that a Balkanized America isn’t separated by geography so much. The admixture is ready-made and tailored for conflict, I’m afraid, with neighbors and cities right down the road from each other finding themselves on far different sides of all of these issues.

Be careful. This is a setup for the country to tire of the conflict and demand for a strong man (or a stronger centralized government) to step in and bring peace on earth and global income for all men.

News your betters aren’t even trying to hide any more.

Many people are still blissfully unaware of what has happened, but the global food supply has been largely taken over by the oligarchs, including financial giants BlackRock and Vanguard.

It turns out that BlackRock and Vanguard have been gradually gobbling up ownership of the means of production, and now intend to lord it over the masses by centralizing all food production technologies in the United States and enslaving everyone under their control.

The top three shareholders of CD Industries Holdings, the world’s largest fertilizer company, include both BlackRock and Vanguard. BlackRock and Vanguard are also the top shareholders in Union Pacific, the railroad giant that moves fertilizer and other agriculture inputs all across the country.

The world’s top 10 food companies are also largely owned by both BlackRock and Vanguard. These include Nestlé, PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Associated British Foods, Mondel?z, Mars, Danone, Unilever, and Coca-Cola.

“What happens when they control all of the seeds, produce, and meat too?” asks Corey’s Digs.

“What happens when produce and meat are all grown inside secured facilities after a gene splice or inside a petri dish, and farmland becomes dormant due to overreaching regulations, lack of supplies, and manufactured inflation?”

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says “it’s time to force people’s behavior to change.”

BlackRock and Vanguard’s influence over CF Industries Holdings and T. Rowe Price Associates is having a major and direct impact on farming in the Midwest. It is also important to note that Union Pacific recently began mandating railroad shipping reductions of 20 percent, further impacting American agriculture.

“This will directly impact key agricultural areas such as Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and California,” Corey’s Digs adds. “This will ultimately affect food supply and pricing. CF Industries is only one of 30 companies dealing with these restrictions.”

That isn’t all.  They’re after homes as well.

Blackrock is buying every single family house they can find, paying 20-50% above asking price and outbidding normal home buyers. Why are corporations, pension funds and property investment groups buying entire neighborhoods out from under the middle class? Lets take a look. Homes are popping up on MLS and going under contract within a few hours. Blackrock, among others, are buying up thousands of new homes and entire neighborhoods.

Read the entire thread.  We already knew this because of friends in the real estate market.  Don’t believe for a second that housing prices are simply this high because of natural demand.  The demand is artificial, created by gigantic corporations out to destroy the middle class.

You see, when the middle class can no longer afford homes, they must rent.  If they rent, they don’t improve their property.  No one spends money to improve property they don’t own.

This turns large swathes of middle class neighborhoods into middle class ghettos.

They want people to live where they tell them to, never own, and eat what they tell them to.

This is all by design.  This is warfare as surely as artillery strikes.

At Shooting Illustrated.

Peruse them as you wish.  I’ll make several remarks.

First, I’m not a fan of the skeletonized stocks.  I think they look strange and incomplete, and they’re simply not something I consider to be heirloom quality firearms.

Second, I and readers have remarks before on how the transition away from fine Walnut stocks has change the face of long guns, and not for the better.

Finally, I’m astounded at some of the prices.  And you can’t convince me that these prices are necessary for the gun to shoot 1 MOA or better, even much better.

Maybe this is just a fad.

News from Ohio.

PIQUA — Three Piqua police officers were hospitalized and later treated and released after a gun unintentionally fired inside the police station Tuesday afternoon.

The incident involved officers who had returned to the police station after a day of shooting range training. The officers involved were in the process of cleaning their weapons after the range training when a pistol unintentionally discharged, sending a single bullet into a concrete floor, Piqua police Deputy Chief Martin Grove said in a statement to News Center 7.

Funny, that.  If someone other than a cop has a negligent discharge, using the defense in court that the pistol “unintentionally discharged” wouldn’t work.

You know that this phrasing is being fed to the reporters for rote repeating.  And you also know that most reporters are too stupid to know better.

David Codrea.

“Donald Trump Jr. launches gun rights group, vows to fight Democratic gun control proposals,” Fox News reports. “The Second Amendment Task Force plans to build its operation around Trump’s high social media visibility and following, as well as his national media appearances.”

“The Second Amendment Task Force is the first advocacy group that Trump has launched and been directly involved with,” the report elaborates. “The group plans to make a push in the upcoming midterm elections this year, especially in the voter registration sphere.”

Except it’s not the first. Remember that “Second Amendment Coalition” his father announced and made him chairman of back in 2016?  The one he co-chaired with fired NRA-ILA honcho and bump stock “regulator” Chris Cox? If you don’t recall that group, it’s probably because it didn’t actually do much of anything and the webpage was taken down a half-a-year later.

As for “plans to make a push,” it’s fair to ask for whom. His father’s Mehmet Oz pick comes to mind. Are there any other candidates gun owners may have concerns about?

[ … ]

It would be greater to see him using his New York City concealed carry permit as a springboard to highlight how unjust and un-American it is to limit such permits to the sell-connected elites and to lead the charge for demanding change. For someone presuming to be a leadership voice for gun owners, it would be not just appropriate, but crucial for Trump Jr. to also explain in principle and detail:

• If he agrees his father has been flat-out wrong on bump stocks;

• Where he agrees with his father on which gun laws should be enforced;

• Why he didn’t weigh in on “red flag laws” when his father said “Take the guns first, due process second”;

• If he agrees with his father on raising the gun purchase age to 21; and

• How he differs from his father’s White House position on where the right to bear arms comes from (see photo, above).

David goes on to say, “The object here is not to attack him or start a feud with dad.”

I don’t mind doing so.  Trump will always trumpet his permit as something glorious, when the rest of the peasants who can’t afford highly paid lawyers in NY are left with nothing.

He should be ashamed at heralding his permit as something to be proud of rather than an example of something that should be changed.  Far from being a sign of support for gun rights, it’s a sign that he has no idea what gun rights means.

I don’t mind saying it at all.  I don’t trust anything Trump is involved with pertaining to 2A rights.

He can go pound sand.

He does a rundown of Maryland’s argument on why the Supreme Court should not take up this case, but rather, allow the ban to stay in place.

Frankly, I’m tired of hearing the so-called “common use” argument.  That has nothing to do with anything and certainly wasn’t in the minds of the founder when they told the FedGov to stay out of the business of regulating weapons.  Common use is entirely a fabricated phrase to assist the controllers.

Second, I’m tired to death of hearing the phrase “assault weapons” (which is also a fabricated phrase) and the routine response by gun rights advocates that “assault weapons” don’t meet the three rules for considering them an “assault rifle” (which based on DoD definition, includes (1) intermediate cartridge, (2) select fire capable, and (3) mild recoil).

It doesn’t matter since in order to make that argument, gun rights advocates stipulate up front that civilians have no right to own such a firearm (e.g., select fire).  In other words, it makes no sense to contrast “assault weapon” and the formal definition of “assault rifle” unless you admit at the outset that the very difference itself is justification for being able to own a semi-automatic version of the same weapon, which in fact, I don’t admit at all and thus do not use that argument.

Eh, whatever.  I really don’t care whether the SCOTUS takes this case up or not.  If they do and come to a good decision, states like Maryland and New York will have to allow the firearms to be owned, but it won’t change the fundamental nature of the state.  If they SCOTUS makes a bad decision, it won’t change the fact that these weapons will still be legal in S.C., N.C., Ga., Miss., La, Tenn, W.V., and on and on the list could go.

In other words, this is all a continuation of the Balkanization of America, with some states racing left, while others pass constitutional carry.

It isn’t policy on firearms that is ripping America apart at the seams.  Firearms is just a symptom, not the cause.

The Desert Review.

How many US Presidents in modern history have announced ‘food shortages’ before they occurred? The answer is only President Biden.

https://youtu.be/iBxpwOmAQcw

Yes, our nation experienced massive shortages during the Great Depression; however, they were not predicted nor announced BEFORE the problem. It was only after the stock market crashed that they followed.

Here, we have a different scenario. A sitting US President has information considered so reliable that the population deserves to be ‘warned’ of dwindling food supplies. Wouldn’t that be the information one would keep classified, as we wouldn’t want the public to panic or begin hoarding? Journalist Mike Gonzales wrote about purported ‘food shortages’ being used as a weapon by the Left to promote the expansion of the Welfare State.

https://www.heritage.org/hunger-and-food-programs/commentary/significant-food-shortages-rare-america

My recent post discussed a patient’s observation that the government was encouraging farmers and ranchers not to produce and destroy their crops and cattle. While I could not confirm this, we now have other disturbing information that suggests it may be true. There may be a plan by our government afoot to create a food shortage.

First, a Maricopa County, Arizona, food bank recently and mysteriously caught fire which destroyed some 50,000 pounds of food. The timing was also suspicious for arson as it occurred just 15 minutes after the Maricopa Food Pantry closed on a Monday morning.

https://t.co/ltJ8clwAJI

Dr. Benjamin Braddock reported on Twitter a number of these unusual food-related fires. There was a massive fire at a Salinas food processing plant. The facility produces for Taylor Farms.

https://youtu.be/OFd6T9DEmFk

Dr. Ben Braddock reports on at least a dozen more suspicious fires targeting similar facilities – Smithfield Foods, Deli Star Meat, Hot Pockets, Tyson Poultry, Bonanza Meat, Mair-Rite Steak, JBS Beef, McCrum Potato, Kellogg’s, and Cargill-Nutrena.

https://twitter.com/DylanRMarshall/status/1516858367599267842?s=20&t=5j9vtdQxmHpYZb19RXvc-w

Braddock reports on an explosion that destroyed a large North Carolina fertilizer plant February 1, 2022.

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1488449331791380491?s=20&t=Vo3f2qYosRigZcKGgxkbdg

PJM also has a rundown of the food processing plant fires lately.

Michael Yon weighs in with a prediction.

This has been an obvious train wreck for a very long time. Famines generally come in slow motion. (Sometimes not, but usually, they are slow motion. Hongerwinter 1944-45 was fast motion). This is very slow motion but colossal. The most incredible PanFaWar in human history is unfolding.

My estimate: this will not be a two-year famine. Most famines go for roughly two years. The Great PanFaWar is shaping up to be a long hauler. Sometime in 2022, the famines will become obvious. By end of 2023, colossal. These will create enormous HOP: Human Osmotic Pressure to migrate. OGUS — the Occupying Government of United States — is expanding the Darien Pipeline through Darien Gap which can and likely will facilitate millions of Asians, Africans, and South Americans into United States. Europe did similar and suffers for it greatly now. Wrecking entire areas of Europe and causing Europeans to change their way of life. Watching their women get raped. Mass terror attacks. Priest decapitated in church. That sort of thing. Just reality. My currency is reality.

While our economy and food supply collapses, OGUS has opened the floodgates to anyone. Many of these people come from highly predatory cultures. I’ve lived around the world. Spent more than half my life in more than 80 other countries. Some cultures are HIGHLY PREDATORY. I see many representatives of these cultures flooding into our country. They will be hungry on our streets. Many will rape our women and boys. These are just facts. I see it all the time downrange.

You cannot run far enough away from this. We will fight, or we will lose. Those are our choices.

Choose to prepare now, not later.

Remember, droughts are natural.  Famines are always man-made.

Shooting off-hand, no optics, a taped-on ladder sight – I’d say that’s fine shooting!

I love lever action guns, and I love the 30-30.  I could shoot that cartridge all day long.