This article came out prior to the announcement of the creation of the first warp bubble. It provides relatively easy to understand background material on the theory of warp drive.
Quote of the day—sacrebleu14 / SA Hinchcliffe @sacrebleu141
What part do you not understand that Human Rights, including the Right of Self Determination which Self Defense is integral, are not negotiable
sacrebleu14 / SA Hinchcliffe @sacrebleu141
Tweeted on December 4, 2021 in response to this tweet which is this meme:
[Yes, sacrebleu14 misunderstood.—Joe]
Job security
Every day I take a quick glance at my tools I can see evidence of the constant attempts to gain illegal access to my company’s computer networks. Each day there are 10s of thousands of probes from thousands of IP address.
To the best of my knowledge my company doesn’t do this sort of thing but people on my team sometimes talk about it and wonder if we should do it:
So far, the company said its Digital Crimes Unit, through 24 lawsuits—five of which were against nation-state actors—had taken down more than 10,000 malicious websites used by cybercriminals and almost 600 used by nation-state actors, and had blocked the registration of 600,000 more.
It’s very resource intensive to push these things through the legal system. Resources that could be used to harden and/or detect and remediate breaches. There are no easy answers and I don’t fault management for the decisions they have made.
I just know that, for me, as long as there are evil people out there, it means I will have job security.
Rifle recoil table
Via email from Jordan P. we have this RIFLE RECOIL TABLE. This is just part of the description:
The following chart provides a rifle’s recoil level
based on its recoil score*.
RECOIL SCORE* RECOIL LEVEL 1-2 Low Recoil 3-4 Moderate Recoil 5-10 High Recoil The following table provides rifle recoil energy,
recoil velocity and recoil score of various rifle cartridges based on respective
projectile weight, projectile velocity, powder charge and rifle
weight.
Very cool!
If I had the time right now I would build and post a web app on Modern Ballistics for you to supply your own parameters and get the results for your exact situations.
Password protected blog post
Earlier today I received a message from Alan Gura requesting that I not post his protected tweets on other social media. The previous QOTD by him has been password protected until such time as his tweet are not protected.
Don’t ask for the password. I won’t give it out.
Sorry about that.
Update: Everything but Gura contribution to the post is:
Tweeted on November 30, 2021
[He is referring to:
Annastacia Palaszczuk on Twitter: “Check out the before ➡️ after Stage one of our quarantine facility at Wellcamp is on track for completion by the end of the year.
Regional quarantine is a common sense approach to keep Queensland safe – that’s why we’re building this dedicated facility at the airport.
“Common sense.” I’m surprised she didn’t also say, “For the children!”
Yes, Gura’s comment is sarcasm.—Joe]
Protected: Quote of the day—Alan Gura @alangura
First warp bubble created
I wish Eric Engstrom were still alive. He died just over a year ago and planned to live long enough to travel to other solar systems in warp drive capable ships. This plan of his was one part of his recruitment speech when he wanted me to join his startup company Chromium Communications.
Today it was announced some scientists accidently created a Nano sized warp bubble. This the first step in creating a warp drive:
- DARPA Researchers Create First Genuine Warp Bubble by Accident
- Researchers accidently create a warp bubble, the first step in faster than light travel
- Scientists Claim to Create a Warp Bubble
I guess I and other friends of Eric will have to take those trips without him.
Quote of the day—Jed Babbin
The liberals’ insistence that the law, the trial, and its outcome are tainted by racism is risible. But, to them, it has to be true because they have only two frames of reference, racism, and gun control. The accusation of racism was a major theme in the 2020 election and will be in the future — probably with less success — because that’s one of only two issues that the Democrats and the media care about.
Jed Babbin
November 21, 2021
Rittenhouse, Racism, and Gun Control
Dems don’t have too many cards left to play these days, just their two obsessions.
[The last sentence is overstating things a little bit. They also seem to care about increasing restrictions on carbon emissions, forced vaccinations, forced mask usage, and reduced restrictions on abortions.
But the sentiment of the first part of the quote resonates well with my understanding of the issue.—Joe]
Inflation
The U.S. isn’t the only place with inflation these days. Turkey is on track to have inflation somewhere between 20% and 40% this year. Other countries are interesting as well. The top 20 are:
| Country | Last | Previous |
| Venezuela | 1,575.0 | 1,946.0 |
| Sudan | 366.0 | 388.0 |
| Lebanon | 174.0 | 144.0 |
| Syria | 139.0 | 134.0 |
| Suriname | 69.5 | 59.8 |
| Zimbabwe | 58.4 | 54.5 |
| Argentina | 52.1 | 52.5 |
| Iran | 35.7 | 39.2 |
| Ethiopia | 33.0 | 34.2 |
| Angola | 26.9 | 26.6 |
| Turkey | 21.3 | 19.9 |
| Zambia | 19.3 | 21.1 |
| Nigeria | 16.0 | 16.6 |
| Guinea | 12.7 | 13.1 |
| Georgia | 12.5 | 12.8 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 12.5 | 13.5 |
| Sierra Leone | 11.6 | 10.9 |
| Pakistan | 11.5 | 9.2 |
| Ghana | 11.0 | 10.6 |
| Haiti | 10.9 | 12.2 |
The US. is in 58th place with 6.2%. At least those are the “official” numbers. As the Reason article notes the official numbers and what is really happening don’t necessarily agree.
“Interesting” things happen with high inflation. There are numerous examples of hyper inflation (defined as greater than or equal to 50% per month) for individual countries. You might want to read up on them. But there will be new books required if it goes global.
The consequences of government responses to COVID, such as reduced production and “free money” make inflation worse. With yet another variant/excuse to adversely affect the economy we might get to read some of those new books on inflation in a year or two. Assuming, of course, we can afford the cost of the paper or electricity to charge your Kindle.
Midway USA Birthday Pricing
A fair amount of my online gun related purchases are from Midway USA. The prices are reasonable, the shipping is quick and the selection is excellent.
They also have something I haven’t seen other places. This is Birthday Pricing:
This fantastic program is available to you once per year to help you celebrate your special day. Your special promotion code is activated 7 days prior to your date of birth and expires 7 days after, or once it has been used.
It is a nice bonus that I took advantage of this year to purchase a set of steel targets for my new gun range. I had planned to wait until next spring but I was shopping for something else and the alert about Birthday Pricing popped up when I visited the Midway USA site. I thought about it some and then a couple days later decided I probably wasn’t going to get a better price on a complete set of Steel Challenge targets. Last weekend I put them in a dry place for the winter:
Quote of the day—Captain Obvious @MondeBoeuf
Open carry is just dick pics forcibly pushed to all in range.
Captain Obvious @MondeBoeuf
Tweeted on November 16, 2021
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday it’s another science denier!
I find it odd someone has such an opinion of police officers. It must another one of those mental problems associated with anti-gun people.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Gui @nerc0s_
That’s horrible. Everyone over 21 can buy guns. That’s a loophole !!
Set the age at 99 years !!!
Gui @nerc0s_
Tweeted on November 27, 2021
[Just in case you weren’t sure… This is sarcasm.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Maj Toure @MAJTOURE
8 is when we exercise the second FLUENTLY. #BlackGunsMatter
Maj Toure @MAJTOURE
Tweeted on November 27, 2021
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Cal Thomas
If confronted by someone seeking to loot, destroy your business, or kill you, would you see your armed self as the best defense, or would you call 911, hoping the police will show up in time, if at all? Or would you be glad that a Kyle Rittenhouse is patrolling your streets like a neighborhood watchman, doing the job the police are unable, or reluctant to do?
Cal Thomas
November 27, 2021
Cal Thomas: The Rittenhouse verdict
[I think a bit more context is necessary to correctly answer these questions. I would be inclined to give the police a couple of free passes until it was clear they weren’t going to do their job. I would then reevaluate the situation.
There could be situations, much later in the timeline, where I would give people a pass for taking the action to the derelict and/or malicious politicians failing to do their job.—Joe]
Zeeshan Aleem is a liar
The article starts out with an elephant sized clue:
Kyle Rittenhouse’s self-defense case was solid. That’s the problem.
It’s a problem the Rittenhouse had a sold defense? Aleem would have us believe in some bizarre world view where it would be better that Rittenhouse had killed two people and seriously injured a third without being legally justified? That’s crazy talk—unless the objective is to denigrate the use of a firearms for self defense.
If you read the article you can see that is his clear intent. And he doesn’t let little things like facts get in the way of his fevered rant:
For many the verdict is an outrage and a brazen miscarriage of justice. Rittenhouse is a Blue Lives Matter enthusiast who went to protests against a police shooting with a military-style rifle that he obtained illegally,
No. It was legal for him to possess the rifle. This was made clear in the trail and Aleem even mentions this later in his article:
…the judge dismissed the illegal possession of a firearm charge since under Wisconsin law 17-year-olds are allowed to possess long-barreled guns.
Apparently Aleem doesn’t realize reality is immutable. He can’t claim it was illegal and simultaneously admit it legal for Rittenhouse to posses it.
It’s apparently all about the narrative so facts and clear thinking are not the important part. Here’s the important part, in Aleem’s words:
While a gun ostensibly gives an advantage to the gun-wielder, it also heightens their fear of escalation, since losing the gun or misfiring it could result in their own harm. In other words, openly carrying a firearm introduces a perverse logic whereby it makes other people feel less safe and simultaneously increases the chance of violence against those people.
…
Rittenhouse’s behavior that fateful night is a powerful symbol of the danger of these movements, and the way they intensify social unrest: right-wing militias increase the likelihood of serious violence while purporting to try to put an end to it.
Given the direction of politics in this country, it seems inevitable that these kinds of armed groups will continue to cause chaos, and the Rittenhouse verdict may embolden them even more.
Ultimately I do believe that Rittenhouse behaved irresponsibly and endangered people recklessly, and that the tragic outcome of his behavior merits some kind of punishment. I can’t say exactly what I think that punishment should look like
It seems obvious Aleem believes, “There ought to be a law! I don’t know what that law might be but we can’t let people with his politics defending themselves with a gun.” This reminds me of something pulled from Robert F Williams book “Negros With Guns”:
When the blacks armed themselves, and without firing a shot, defended themselves an old white man in the crowd that was previously chanting, “Kill the niggers!” started screaming and crying like a baby (page 10). He then said, “God damn, God damn, what is this God damn country coming to that the niggers have got guns, the niggers are armed and the police can’t even arrest them!”
Prejudice is an ugly thing.
Quote of the day—John Hinderaker
I am not sure how liberals expected the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial to go. Anyone who had seen the videos of Rittenhouse’s interactions with the men who were chasing him, striking him and trying to kill him knew that he had a strong case of self-defense. But apparently the fact that Rittenhouse has a defense–and is so bold as to assert it!–came as a surprise to the Left.
John Hinderaker
November 12, 2021
RITTENHOUSE TRIAL BRINGS OUT THE CRAZY
[I don’t think it’s “surprise”. I think it’s indignation. It’s all about political currency. Violence is the political currency of the left. Non-leftists should stay in their lane and rely on the police. And since they had essentially neutered the police during this “summer of love” they expected, nay, they deserved an open field of operation. Someone dares to put out a fire they started? That is intolerable and must be punished. That Rittenhouse didn’t accept his well deserved beating was a gross violation of their expected rules of engagement. He had to guilty of something. He shouldn’t have even been there.—Joe]
Good to know
FBI document shows what data can be obtained from encrypted messaging apps:
| App | Legal process & additional details |
|---|---|
| Apple iMessage |
*Message content limited. *Subpoena: can render basic subscriber information. *18 USC §2703(d): can render 25 days of iMessage lookups and from a target number. *Pen Register: no capability. *Search Warrant: can render backups of a target device; if target uses iCloud backup, the encryption keys should also be provided with content return can also acquire iMessages from iCloud returns if target has enabled Messages in iCloud. |
| Line | *Message content limited. *Suspect’s and/or victim’s registered information (profile image, display name, email address, phone number, LINE ID, date of registration, etc.) *Information on usage. *Maximum of seven days worth of specified users’ text chats (Only when E2EE has not been elected and applied and only when receiving an effective warrant; however, video, picture, files, location, phone call audio and other such data will not be disclosed). |
| Signal | *No message content. *Date and time a user registered. *Last date of a user’s connectivity to the service. |
| Telegram | *No message content. *No contact information provided for law enforcement to pursue a court order. As per |
| Threema | *No message content. *Hash of phone number and email address, if provided by user. *Push Token, if push service is used. *Public Key *Date (no time) of Threema ID creation. Date (no time) of last login. |
| Viber | *No message content. *Provides account (i.e. phone number)) registration data and IP address at time of creation. *Message history: time, date, source number, and destination number. |
| *No message content. *Accepts account preservation letters and subpoenas, but cannot provide records for accounts created in China. *For non-China accounts, they can provide basic information (name, phone number, email, IP address), which is retained for as long as the account is active. |
|
| *Message content limited. *Subpoena: can render basic subscriber records. *Court order: Subpoena return as well as information like blocked users. *Search warrant: Provides address book contacts and WhatsApp users who have the target in their address book contacts. *Pen register: Sent every 15 minutes, provides source and destination for each message. *If target is using an iPhone and iCloud backups enabled, iCloud returns may contain WhatsApp data, to include message content. |
|
| Wickr | *No message content. *Date and time account created. *Type of device(s) app installed on. *Date of last use. *Number of messages. *Number of external IDs (email addresses and phone numbers) connected to the account, bot not to plaintext external IDs themselves. *Avatar image. *Limited records of recent changes to account setting such as adding or suspending a device (does not include message content or routing and delivery information). *Wickr version number. |
Prepare appropriately.
How to Lie About Guns
By Frank Melloni:
How to Lie About Guns, New York Times Style
One of the easiest ways to lie and not get sued for libel is to simply do so through exclusion. The New York Times is famous for this and if you don’t know enough about guns they can make things sound pretty bad, just by leaving out a little bit of information. In the wake of the Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict we ought to brush up on the tactics of far-left media.
Quote of the day—Hugo Gurdon
Righting the listing ship of state requires that we once again recognize that process, tedious though it may be to political hotheads, is more important than temporary victories and defeats on policy. The idea that results alone are important is the same as saying might makes right. It is the maxim of bullies and tyrants. It is not the political philosophy on which America long stood and should still stand.
Hugo Gurdon
November 17, 2021
Damn the evidence, convict the white supremacist
[+1.—Joe]
James D. Zirin of The Hill is a liar
It starts with the headline and continues nearly non-stop with the lies:
A miscarriage of justice in Kenosha
The unimaginable has occurred. Kyle Rittenhouse, the admitted killer of two men and maimer of a third, has been acquitted on all counts.
It certainly was imaginable to me and millions of others. After the videos came out it was crystal clear to anyone who had a glimmer of knowledge about the use of lethal force in self defense. The author is a former federal prosecutor and cannot possibly claim ignorance of the law.
On Aug. 25, 2020, Rittenhouse armed himself with a borrowed AR-15-style assault rifle loaded with full metal jacket armor-penetrating ammunition and marched into downtown Kenosha, Wis.
FMJ bullets are not “armor-penetrating”.
An AR-15 is the same kind of gun, in design and function, that our troops carry in the field. But Rittenhouse from the evidence had never undergone any training, military or otherwise, in the use and operation of the deadly weapon, which was illegally purchased and given to him by a friend.
It is not the same kind of gun and does not function the same as any rifle used by any military in at least the last 60 years.
As a (formerly) certified firearms instructor I can say with 100% certainty this was not the first time Rittenhouse had used a firearm. Some people, and I agree with this, say:
Based on the videos I’ve seen Rittenhouse is one of the best weapons handlers under pressure I’ve ever seen.
This was not an untrained person.
The gun was not illegal purchased. There was nothing illegal in any of the transfers of that firearm.
One shot might have qualified as self-defense, but four shots, it would appear, doth a murder make.
False. This was drilled into my General Defensive Handgun classmates and I back in ‘97:
If it ever becomes times to shoot someone, do they need to be shot a little? Or a lot? If that time comes you should shoot early and often — until the threat is over. If you shoot a “set”, such as a double tap, you may stop shooting too soon.
Zirin is a former attorney. Having watched the trial we can conclude his education must have been suitably refreshed. That he still claims such falsehoods is evidence of deliberate lies.
Although his second victim, Anthony Huber, was “armed” only with a skateboard, Rittenhouse claimed he shot him dead because he believed Huber was threatening his life.
Rittenhouse was on the ground and Huber hit him in the head with the skateboard. This is clearly lethal force. You are legally allowed, and I would say morally obligated, to defend innocent life using lethal force when confronted with lethal force by your attackers. Zirin learned this in the trial as well because he quoted the judge saying essentially the same thing. The only question here is, “What is the objective of these lies by Zirin?”
The trial was highlighted by emotional and illuminating testimony from Rittenhouse himself, who wept as he protested that he had acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Rosenbaum not once but four times. Rosenbaum had thrown a plastic bag at him and chased him.
Lying by omission. Zirin left out the part about Rosenbaum threating to kill him, then chasing him, and finally attempting to take Rittenhouse’s rifle.
I find it interesting and someone comforting that the poll taken at the end of the article shows I’m not the only one taking issue with this liar:
