The United States Special Operations Command, in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps, have issued a sources sought notice for an all new Lightweight Medium Machine Gun that could change warfare forever.
Frankly?
It’s amazing what this thing can do.
Check this out:
Introducing the .338NM Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG)
I came across this story while reading Soldier Systems Daily, and it’s quite interesting.
Apparently, America’s dismounted infantry regularly goes up against the Russian PKM machine gun with around 1,000M effective range due to its 7.62mmR cartridge.
1,000m is about 300+m longer than the effective range of the M4 rifle that all US soldiers carry in 5.56mm…
Of course, .308 (7.62 NATO) guns provide an answer to this extended range — but that adds unwanted weight and recoil.
The solution is the development of a new LWMMG with an amazing cartridge.
To quote SSD, “In short, the capability will provide a machine gun which is lighter than the current 7.62mm M240, yet offers nearly the reach of the .50 M2. However, unlike the M2, this new capability will offer pinpoint accuracy at those ranges. What’s more, with the introduction of polymer cased ammo, the weight of ammunition comes much closer to 7.62 than .50.”
So, with this new LWMMG — troops will be able to hit targets at extended distances like a .50 BMG — out to 2,000 meters — but it will only weigh as much as the current 7.62/.308 machine guns like the M60!
General Dynamics developed it and they say it:
* Eliminates the gap between 7.62mm and .50 caliber weapons, the LWMMG utilizes the highly efficient .338 Norma Magnum cartridge to offer unmatched accuracy and lethality while extending the battlespace out to an impressive 1,700 meters.
* The LWMMG features General Dynamics’ revolutionary recoil mitigation system that offers a recoil profile similar to a 7.62mm NATO machine gun, but utilizing the much more powerful .338NM cartridge.
* At 1,000 meters, the LWMMG is capable of defeating Level III body armor and incapacitating soft skinned vehicles by delivering over 1,900 foot pounds of energy to the target – more than four times the terminal effect of the 7.62mm NATO cartridge.
* Weighing less than 24 pounds and featuring a fully collapsible stock, the LWMMG offers superior mobility and portability in both mounted and dismounted operations.
* The LWMMG features a quick change barrel with fixed headspace and timing as well as integrated MIL-STD-1913 rails, allowing the use of a variety of optics, lasers and accessories.
The .338NM Is One Heck of a Round!
Take a look at the picture above and notice the size difference in this round compared to the other common NATO rounds of 5.56 (Rifleman’s M4 carbine), the 7.62 (the M60 machine gun) and the .50 cal (speciality sniper rifle and other uses).
Then realize this .338NM is accurate out to a reported 1900 meters and at 1000 meters delivers 5 TIMES the energy of the 7.62!
That’s pretty insane.
Essentially as you can see in the slide below, this new LWMMG weighs the same as the current 7.62 machine gun but goes about 1000 meters further and packs more of a punch at all ranges!
Weapons technology keeps getting better and better.
This is the first time that I’ve seen wholesale adoption/planning to use the polymer cased ammunition–I didn’t realize the technology was that trusted already and being used to develop more effective weapons with lighter weight. Pretty neat.
The biggest cyberattack in history hit the world starting on Friday May 12, 2017 and has continued to spread to computers around the world.
Part of being prepared is protecting the important things.
Today, your computers and your digital life are every bit as important as your real life.
Don’t get hacked!
The Largest Cyberattack In History
Friday May 12, 2017 a cyberattack started that spread to thousands of computers. The unprecedented attack initially infected over 200,000 computers in at least 150 countries.
The attack locks people out of their computers and encrypts their files, demanding they pay up to $300 in bitcoin — a price that doubles after three days — to receive a decryption key or risk losing their important files forever.
This type of hack/cyberattack is called “ransomware” because it asks for a ransom to end the attack.
Worse, this particular malware also behaves like a worm, potentially infecting computers and servers on the same network.
This Malware Was Allegedly Developed By The National Security Agency (NSA)
The software behind WannaCry was allegedly developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) to penetrate computers using certain versions of Windows.
According to several documents released by the Shadow Brokers’ hacking group, the NSA used this (and many other) Windows hacking tools to target several banks, including the SWIFT banking system.
Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, Brad Smith, compared the hacking of the NSA software to the “U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.”
Fun thought isn’t it?
Our government using our tax dollars to create/exploit computers and then “losing” those powerful weapons to God-knows-who.
This Cyberattack Shut Down Hospitals and Public Services
These types of cyberattacks are dangerous to not only your personal files, but could also trigger a SHTF event…
This cyberattack was crippling to some hospitals, utilities, businesses and government agencies.
In Britain, computer systems across the National Health service (NHS) were paralyzed by the malware…
More than 40 healthcare trusts across Britain reported outages after the attack. These outages left thousands of doctors unable to access patient data, emergency rooms were shut down and ambulances re-directed. Some hospitals were forced to cancel crucial x-ray, MRI and CT scans while others were forced to treat patients without access to radiology test results or information about blood-types.
People were warned not to use some hospitals unless it was an absolute emergency.
Imagine the breakdown of our own healthcare system. Scary stuff!
As you probably know by now, our entire Power Grid runs on computers… I could see something like this easily bringing it down.
It was Russia which was hit the hardest by the attack, WannaCry crashed Russian banks, telephone operators and even IT systems supporting transport infrastructure.
China was also hit hard by the attack too — a reported 29,000 organisations in total fell victim to Wannacry.
3 Ways To Defend Yourself From Wannacry Ransomware
The absolute best guide I’ve found to explain the important steps you can take to protect yourself is this guide from CNet.com.
But what you want to do in total is:
1. Make Safe & Secure Backups
Because this ransomware encrypts and holds your files hostage, you’ll want to continually backup your computer.
In short, if you keep your computer updated, then a-best-case-scenario is you just lose a few hours wiping your computer and re-loading all your files. It’s best to avoid this though…
2. Update Your Operating System (and keep it up to date)
The WannaCry Ransomware apparently affected only older versions of Windows because those older versions aren’t supported these days.
Microsoft went out of its way to add some patches for older versions of Windows because this attack was so bad, but like this Cnet article says, update your OS.
And keep the Windows Updates on to keep getting patches/etc
3. Don’t Download Things You Don’t Trust, etc
Of course, avoid downloading attachments or clicking on links found in e-mails from senders you don’t recognize.
Only open files and attachments from people you know.
The rate of change and pace of innovation almost ALWAYS outpaces the speed of regulators and dictators that want to oppress the people!
Here is today’s case in point:
Military Arms and The “NFA Nut Kicker!”
The guy from MilitaryArms talks about how the NFA is not only and infringement on our rights, but also COMPLETELY outdated because of today’s technology. He shows an AR-15 pistol with a short barrel, brace, and Echo trigger plus silencer. The only registered item on the gun is the silencer. Check it out:
With Modern Technology, You Can Get Basically a “Full Auto” Trigger in Your AR-15!
There’s now a number of these triggers.
Apparently, how they work is they fire when you pull the trigger AND they fire when you release the trigger.
Iraqveteran8888 says they can be best described as a mechanical “response” trigger, firing one round on the pull and one round on the release in the third position. I didn’t know this was paintball tech before it was real gun tech!
FosTech Echo Trigger
In this video, he reviews the FosTech Echo Trigger that was seen in the NFA Nut Kicker AR-15 …
Franklin Armory Binary Trigger (BFS III)
In this video Hank Strange tests/demos the Franklin Armory Binary Trigger (BFS III) in three different AR-15’s. Guns used in this video are the Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22 (22lr rifle) Stag Arms Model 9T (9mm Carbine) and the Stag Arms Model 3T-M (223 Rifle). (The 9mm rifle was the only one that had any reliability issues)
If You Want To Go Full Auto Without Spending $10,000 Or More On a “Machine Gun” These Triggers Are Your Best Choice!
The fact is that full-auto guns are super expensive.
These triggers that simulate full-auto are much, much less expensive and can do pretty much the same thing.
My only question — as always — would be reliability. But it looks like they’re pretty reliable.
There have been some unique changes to our world since President Trump was elected…
One of those is the rise of left-wing “resistance” movements.
The truth is, I’m pretty puzzled by the whole thing, but it’s very, very troubling because I sincerely believe they’re more dangerous than ISIS.
What Is Antifa?
I’m not going to even pretend to be an expert here, but “Antifa” is the name of left-leaning groups of people that claim they are “Anti-Fascist” – that’s where the name comes from.
Clever huh?
After doing some research, it appears this was an actual historical movement from around WWII times in Germany/Italy, mostly made up of communists who opposed the fascist regimes of Mussolini and Hitler.
Today though?
Everyone and everything these extreme progressives don’t like is now a “Nazi” or a “fascist.”
The term “alt-right” is now being applied to anyone to the right of Karl Marx (despite the fact that nobody really knows for sure what “alt-right” means).
To these militants on the left, Donald Trump, every single person who voted for him, anyone who opposes any component or increment of left-wing politics, and anyone who disagrees with a liberal on social media is an alt-right bigoted homophobic transphobic Nazi racist fascist KKK member.
They rose to prominence in our popular culture after one of them got famous for punching white nationalist Richard Spencer. “Nazi Punching” they called it. And they were praised everywhere. Here’s the problem …
Why Are They Dangerous?
In short, because in their mind they believe their violence is justified.
And you’re a target.
No matter how deeply you believe you are not a Nazi, this does not matter to an antifa thug, an anarcho-communist, or a liberal political activist.
He or she believes you are a Nazi, that you are “alt-right,” that your disagreement makes you a racist. In his or her mind, you have already been dehumanized, and thus you have no rights.
Marginalizing conservatives and conservative political positions as wrongthink has long been a tool of the Left… but now it carries with it potential physical attack.
Check Out Some Of Their Lovely Memes…
I think if you’re reading this blog, you can appreciate the DTOM (Don’t Tread On Me) flag and where it comes from in our American history.
Here’s what Antifa thinks:
And there’s more…
Why Are They More Dangerous Than ISIS?
Because they’re actually a threat, and the mainstream media largely embraces them and — let’s face it — takes their side when reporting news stories involving them.
Plus, there’s a LOT of people in America that openly support them…
And let’s face it, they’re comfortable with violence and they’re practicing. This is a video from Antifa in Arizona that created the John Brown Gun Club:
And the movement is getting more violent around the world.
Antifa is even in Paris, where on May 1st – a communist holiday — they hit french police with molotov cocktails. Here’s a video:
Take a look at this picture:
Keep Your Head Up
These people are willing to do violence.
They’ve started training.
They definitely have access to guns…
They’re more than willing to use violence with their hands or any weapon against people they claim are “Nazis”.
And the main stream media is giving them a free pass. So don’t ignore them.
Keep preparing. Carry your gun. Get in shape and keep training. Things will probably get worse before they get better…
Recently, a video has been making its way across the internet of an armed robbery at a Jimmy John’s restaurant.
It’s become viral because the employee being robbed doesn’t seem very intimidated and/or he seems bored.
More importantly, I think it’s a learning opportunity for everyone because the armed robber appears to be using a malfunctioning gun!
Even if he wanted to shoot his victim, it doesn’t look like he could do it. Check it out:
Jimmy John’s Employee Looks Bored During Robbery
Here’s the (what appears to be a security cam) video of the entire robbery caught on tape.
Note at 0:34 in the video the bad guy goes to rack the slide on his handgun…
He makes the common beginner mistake of riding the slide forward instead of letting it go, which actually causes the gun to malfunction (Luckily, the bad guy looks pretty nervous and doesn’t notice his gun is useless at this point).
How To Identify An Empty Or Malfunctioning Gun
At about 0:46 in the video, you can see the bad guy threatens someone behind the employee at the counter (off screen) by shoving the gun in the direct eye-line of the employee:
The yellow arrow is the employee who has a clear view of the bad guy’s gun.
If you look at the bad guy’s gun there are at least three things that you can see that tell you the gun is out of battery/malfunctioning:
The slide is locked back, hanging over his hand
The ejection port/chamber is open – you can see the feeding malfunction and what appears to be brass.
You can see the shiny barrel sticking out from underneath the slide of the handgun, because the slide is locked back.
These are all three things you can look for to identify a malfunctioning/empty/out of battery gun. Take a look at this picture here:
You can see the same thing in my demonstration, the slide is locked back — hanging over my hand, you can see into the chamber, and the barrel is visible–sticking out from under the slide. This is because the slide is locked back, the gun is empty or malfunctioning or it’s out of battery for some reason.
You should be able to identify what a functioning gun looks like and what a malfunctioning gun looks like instantly.
If you’re a regular gun shooter, then this is not news to you. For other people, this could save your life.
How This Can Save Your Life
The robbery you just watched ended fine, the victim complied and the bad guy didn’t kill anyone. Everyone was lucky.
If the bad guy is already killing people or isn’t so nice, the best opportunity you might have to attack him to defend yourself is when his gun is malfunctioning.
“Take a look at some of the active shooter events in recent history. The shooter had a malfunctioning or empty gun in every one…
1988- Atlantic Shores Christian School. Shooter subdued by a teacher after his gun jammed.
1999- Columbine High School- Two shooters reloaded several times each
2007- Virginia Tech. Shooter reloaded several times
2009- NVCC Woodbridge College. Shooter’s gun jammed after 2 rounds
2009- Bridgeville fitness club. Shooter reloaded at least twice
2009- Fort Hood Army Base. Terrorist reloaded several times
2010- University of Alabama Faculty meeting. Shooter’s gun jammed and she was locked in a closet by coworkers until police arrived.
2011- Tucson Shooting. Shooter had to reload and had a jammed gun
2011- Norway shooting. Multiple reloads
2012- Chardon High School. Shooter fired 10 rounds with .22 pistol and then ran out of ammunition
2012- Oikos College. Shooter reloaded several times”
During a weapons malfunction or when the gun goes empty and the killer attempts to reload are both times when they can’t shoot anyone, and give you a moment of opportunity.
Long Arms (Rifles/Shotguns) Can Malfunction, Jam, or Go Empty Too
In Greg’s article, he also notes that the infamous Aurora Colorado Movie Theater shooting was cut short because Holmes’ AR-15 malfunctioned and that the AK-47 used by the terrorist on the Paris train attack also malfunctioned and that’s what gave the defenders the chance to take him out.
Rifles/shotguns jam, malfunction, or go empty too.
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to identify a rifle malfunction as it is a handgun malfunction.
I think the best strategy here, if facing a bad guy armed with a rifle is to wait for a stop in the shooting…
If you can then get visual confirmation that he’s messing with the gun trying to get it to fire again — that would indicate he’s experiencing a malfunction and would be an opportunity to attack/flee.
Likewise, a pause in the shooting could indicate that the bad guy is out of ammo and needs to reload, also giving you an opportunity to make your move.
In the video on this page, you can see a student that fights back against an active shooter with a shotgun. He fights back at the perfect time, coming up behind the shooter when he is in the process of reloading his shotgun.
Make Sure You And Everyone You Care About Can Identify A Loaded/Unloaded Gun
This is an important safety tip even for people you know who aren’t into guns or don’t want to train with them.
AR-15/AR-10 technology has come a long way in the last couple years.
But there’s hardly anything “new” that you see.
Well, I’ve NEVER seen this before!
This is a FOLDING AR-15/AR-10 design that debuted at the NRA 2017 show (and NO, it does not fold at the stock!). Check it out:
Introducing the XAR folding rifle platform by F&D Defense
F&D Defense bills this design as “the fastest deploying and most reliable compact rifle system available”.
From the looks of it, they might be right.
It comes in a nice carrying case …
You take it out and it’s in the folded position:
Then you simply unfold it, and the upper receiver locks in place:
And then it functions like any other AR-platform rifle!
Here’s the guys from the Firearm Blog checking it out at the NRA show where they show you how it works:
F&D Defense XAR Invicta Takedown AR Accuracy Review (Ringing Steel at 300yds!)
Iraqveteran8888 does a shooting review and the rifle holds zero in these intitial tests (he’s ringing steel at 300yds with no problem):
What Do You Think?
I’m really excited by these “takedown” AR-15 platforms and this may be one of the most unique designs of the type I’ve seen because it looks very durable.
Then again, I’m never too keen on someone changing the AR-style design too much because you usually run into reliability problems.
If you don’t know, there are some INSANE laws from 1934 that govern much of what is “legal” in the firearms world.
They’re known as the National Firearms Act (NFA) laws.
And they suck.
It’s the reason you can’t buy silencers & short barreled rifles off the shelf. A short barreled rifle is anything under 16″.
Well, there is one way around the NFA laws on short barreled rifles. If you do it right, you can legally own an AR-15 with a short barrel rifle without paying for a $200 tax stamp and waiting for approval by the ATF. Check it out:
How To Get A “Short Barrel” AR-15 Without Paying An NFA $200 Tax, etc
In short, you need a pistol …
The AR-15 platform can be had in either a “pistol” or “rifle”.
You want to buy the “pistol” type (or build it yourself, if you know how to do it legally).
What’s the ONLY difference between a pistol AR-15 and the rifle version?
Very simply, the pistol AR-15 can NOT have a buttstock of any kind. And it must NEVER have had a buttstock of any kind attached. The actual lower receiver is bought/transferred into your name as a pistol lower, not a rifle lower.
(In other words, if you bought an AR-15 rifle with a buttstock and then took the buttstock off, while it may look EXACTLY like an AR-15 pistol — the ATF still considers it a rifle.)
Image source: AR-15 pistol PDW
Why You Want an AR-15 Pistol
Here’s the reasons you want an AR-15 pistol …
1. It’s legally a pistol. That means with your concealed carry permit, you can legally carry it concealed in public just like you would any other pistol (like a Glock, etc). That’s important because a lot of states say you can’t carry a loaded rifle/shotgun around with you or in your car, etc. They have different rules for pistols.
2. As a pistol, you can have a short barrel (less than 16″) on it without it becoming a “short barrel rifle” which is a NFA weapon. An NFA weapon is illegal to have without paying a Tax Stamp to the ATF and getting their permission to own/build it. Obviously, you’ll want a shorter barrel because it makes it easier to conceal.
By The Way, There Are Now Multiple Pistols – Not Just AR-15’s …
L to R: Sig MPX, HK MP5, KRISS Vector, AR-15, Scorpion EVO, Uzi – all with SB Tactical Braces
You can now buy pistol versions of the following rifles, including (but not limited to):
* AK-47’s
* .308 FAL’s
* CZ Scorpion EVO
* KRISS Vector
* IWI Uzi Pistol
* HK MP5, HK53, MP5K’s, etc
* Sig MPX
The Invention Of The “Stabilizer Brace”
AR-15 pistols used to be considered “range toys”, but sometime in 2013 SB Tactical started selling something called a “stabilizing brace” for AR-15 & AK-47 pistols.
It took the market by storm and was very popular.
It’s important to note that they got approval from the ATF for making these braces way back in 2012. The agency said:
“the submitted brace, when attached to a firearm, does not convert that weapon to be fired from the shoulder and would not alter the classification of a pistol or other firearm. While a firearm so equipped would still be regulated by the Gun Control Act … such a firearm would not be subject to NFA controls.”
Of course, one of the obvious ways to fire a pistol with one of these things attached is by using the brace as a makeshift “stock” on your shoulder …
Something you can already do with the built-in buffer tube of an AR-15 pistol. In fact, in the below pictures from an article by Gabe Suarez on the M4 Pistol concept, you can see the two primary ways of running the M4 Pistol – either the cheek index for CQB or when greater accuracy is needed — obtaining a fourth point of contact by bringing the end of the buffer tube back into the shoulder.
Gabe Suarez demonstrating two ways to fire an AR-15 pistol using either cheek support only or also getting a fourth point of contact on the shoulder. Obviously, shouldering a regular AR-15 pistol does not magically make it a rifle … right?
Obviously, this does not somehow magically turn an AR-15 pistol into a rifle, just because you “shoulder it”.
The ATF agreed, because in March 2014 they said this in a second letter,
“for the following reasons, we have determined that firing a pistol from the shoulder would not cause the pistol to be reclassified as an SBR: FTB classifies weapons based on their physical design characteristics. While usage/functionality of the weapon does influence the intended design, it is not the sole criterion for determining the classification of a weapon. Generally speaking, we do not classify weapons based on how an individual uses a weapon.”
Things were wonderful in AR-15 pistol land – people finally had a cost effective, good looking, potentially useful accessory to put on their AR-15 pistols to (arguably) make them easier to handle and everything seemed great.
The ATF issued a third letter just before SHOT Show in January 2015 that resulted in panic in the firearms industry. The letter stated:
“the pistol stabilizing brace was neither ‘designed’ nor approved to be used as a shoulder stock, and therefore use as a shoulder stock constitutes a ‘redesign’ of the device because a possessor has changed the very function of the item.”
In other words, by simply shouldering an AR-15 pistol with a stabilizing brace attached, you have magically “redesigned” it into a short-barreled-rifle and you’re now a felon.
Which, of course, makes no sense because if you take it out of your shoulder pocket does it magically “redesign” back into a pistol if you fire it with your arms extended like one?
Fire it with two hands like this, and does it magically redesign itself back into a pistol? But then you shoulder it and it magically redesigns itself into a rifle?
Either way, these letters from the ATF are basically law, so everyone was cautioned to not shoulder any pistol with a brace attached.
Which brings us to modern times …
ATF REVERSES Opinion On Pistols With Braces (AGAIN!), Now Says Pistols Are Still Pistols, Even If You Shoulder Them
Recoil Mag posted a letter from the ATF that has reversed the earlier reversal to the earlier reversal letter … or whatever.
“… The new clarification of opinion letter states, “an NFA firearm has not necessarily been made when the device is not reconfigured for use as a shoulder stock – even if the attached firearm happens to be fired from the shoulder. To the extent that the January 2015 Open Letter implied or has been construed to hold that incidental, sporadic, or situational “use” of an arm-brace (in its original approved configuration) equipped firearm from a firing position at or near the shoulder was sufficient to constitute “redesign,” such interpretations are incorrect and not consistent with ATF’s interpretation of the statute or the manner in which it has historically been enforced.”
SB Tactical, along with the law offices of Mark Barnes & Associates, have worked tirelessly for more than two years to correct what they believed to be an inaccurate interpretation of “redesign,” related to the Pistol Stabilizing Brace. “It has always been our belief that the addition of our Pistol Stabilizing Brace benefits shooters, both disabled and able-bodied, and that neither strapping it to your arm nor shouldering a brace equipped pistol would constitute ‘redesign’ of a pistol to a NFA firearm”, said Alex Bosco, inventor, founder and CEO of SB Tactical. “We are strongly encouraged by the ATF’s reversal of opinion and commend their willingness to continually review policy, including their own opinions, to ensure public safety and the fulfillment of their mission.”
Both SB Tactical and Mark Barnes & Associates are proud to be at the forefront of protecting and preserving the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Mark Barnes echoed Bosco’s praise of the ATF’s new guidance and stated that “it’s clear that the Bureau has no intention or desire to prosecute law abiding citizens using SB Tactical Pistol Stabilizing Braces. Their decision to act should be commended.”
So It Looks Like You Can Shoulder A Stabilizing Brace Now, Just Don’t Modify It!
Of course, the entire internet will be in a roar telling you that if you do ANY modifications to a stabilizing brace then you’ve redesigned it and you’ll go to jail.
That may or may not be true.
The REAL issue here is that these are outdated laws from 1934 that should have neve been passed in the first place and the entire NFA needs to be repealed because it’s just silly.
First silencers need to be legal, and then the NFA needs to get repealed. Until then, enjoy shouldering your pistol braces without fear of an ATF hit squad busting down your door and shooting your dog!
Friday, April 21, 2017 – The U.S. power grid appears to have been hit with multiple power outages simultaneously affecting San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles.
There is no official word on what caused the simultaneous blackouts to three of America’s biggest cities.
The official word is that it’s all a coincidence they occurred at the same time.
Many wonder if it’s a cyberattack by our nation’s enemies …
Apparently, the government is also running something called “Operation Gotham Shield” – which is leading many to believe these blackouts may have been a part of the government led drill/false flag of some sort …
Power Blackouts Hit LA, New York, San Francisco
Power outages hit Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, leaving commuters stranded and traffic backed up Friday.
About 90,000 customers were affected in San Francisco (the worse hit from what I’ve read).
While the outages occurred simultaneously — as of yet — there is no evidence they were connected or coordinated.
The picture below from Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) shows the outages:
The outages seemed to have occurred quickly and in succession.
As of yet, there’s not evidence as to why they happened this way.
Some people suspect a potential cyberattack or even government drill/false flag.
New York Hit First At 7:20am …
The first outage occurred at around 7:20am in New York when the power went down at 7th Avenue and 53rd Street subway station
This picture, to me, is particularly horrifying:
“It took me an hour and 20 mins to go one stop, give up, find my way out of this mob, then walk back home @MTA,” wrote Liz Baker on Twitter.
The mobs of people stuck underground …
That’s not some place I want to be.
The utility company, Con Edison, said one of its electric lines triggered the outage.
Los Angeles Was Next …
Next hit was LA, but it didn’t appear to be as widespread as in San Francisco.
Most reports are just of the Los Angeles International Airport, as well as in several other areas around the city.
San Francisco Was The Worst Hit – Blackout Widespread …
Los Angeles International Airport, as well as in several other areas around the city.
PGE officials named a substation fire as the primary cause of the outage.
The San Francisco Fire Department was responding to more than 100 calls for service in the Financial District and beyond, including 20 elevators with people stuck inside, but reported no immediate injuries. Everywhere, sirens blared as engines maneuvered along streets jammed with traffic.
This is actually a common occurrence and something I would not have known was so common until I read Ted Koppel’s book “LIGHTS OUT: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath” — although it makes total sense when you think about it — during a power outage.
In the tweet below, you’ll see someone stuck in an elevator:
Cyber Attack Feared As The Cause Of Multiple City Power Grid Failures
SHTFPlan writes, ” …The cause of the outage has not yet been made clear, though given the current geo-political climate it is not out of the question to suggest a cyber attack could be to blame.”
And that doesn’t sound very far off.
Cyberattacks can be launched from anywhere in the world using nothing more than a laptop computer and an internet connection…
Many of the nations that FedGov has been saber rattling with of late definitely have the capability.
In fact, the NSA’s top Cyber Warfare expert George R. Cotter is convinced that China and Russia have already penetrated the U.S. power grid, both for reconnaissance, and in order to plant cyber weapons that could be launched in the future!
In the video below, you can see a group of “White Hat” hackers that were hired to test the security of a power company. How quickly they get access is scary:
Could These Blackouts Be The Result of a Secretive Nuclear/EMP Drill By The Federal Government?
You know, there is such a thing as coincidence, but then again, some things are just too weird…
For example, here is an in depth article covering something called “Operation Gotham Shield“. You can read all about it there (including seeing the actual government PDF’s on the exercise.)
“It is a tabletop, joint agency exercise involving FEMA, Homeland Security and a myriad of law enforcement and military agencies. WMD, chemical and biological units will all be on hand as a response is tested for a “simulated” nuclear detonation over the United States’ foremost urban center, in the iconic and densely populated island of Manhattan and nearby shores of New Jersey.”
Cyberattack, Government False Flag, Or Just Bad Luck – It’s Definitely Time To Get Prepared!
A large-scale power outage is nothing to laugh at.
The potential effects are terrifying.
In fact, an attack on America’s power grid would bring us to our knees.
A long-term outage would be like being instantly sent back into the 19th century…
In the event of a nuclear/EMP attack that takes out all electronics, we would be devastated.
Dr. Peter Pry — a former CIA officer and executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security — says within the first 12 months 9 out of 10 Americans — over 290,000,000 innocent men, women and children — will be not survive.
“The congressional EMP commission on which I served calculated that within a year of blackout that knocks out the national grid, we would probably lose up to nine out of 10 Americans through starvation, disease and societal collapse,” said Pry.
“The only reason we can sustain a population of 310 million Americans is technology. If you take that away, we don’t have any way of feeding, providing water or even providing communications and government for an orderly society that’s going to sustain 310 million Americans.”
If you’ve ever wondered if there was a way to become invisible to thermal optics, then you’ll see how to do it today.
In fact, you’ll see exactly how to build your own “thermal evasion suit”.
Thermal imaging is the technology that picks up thermal signatures — aka your body heat. Originally military technology, it’s now used on drones, rifle scopes and it’s so popular it’s readily available for not much money (hunters use them for example).
Despite some common beliefs, it’s not impossible to hide from this technology.
“All objects emit infrared energy. The amount of infrared energy emitted is proportional to the amount of heat an object or organism produces. Thermal imagers sense this infrared energy and provide a thermal signature of a scene.”
In short, anyone with thermal imaging technology can see your body heat.
Here’s an example of two men walking in the woods, viewed through thermal tech – their body heat is in red:
Many people think that it’s impossible to hide from such technology.
That’s not the case …
How Can You Hide From Thermal Imaging Technology?
There are a lot of myths about thermal imaging …
Thermal can’t see through walls. (Unless, it’s a VERY thin wall and your body heat is heating the wall up enough to be seen from the outside.)
Thermal can’t see through other objects either …
For example, a bunch of trees in the forest. So if you’re in a very dense forest you can hide quite well. Likewise (as many terrorists in the Middle East have figured out or were trained by our forces to do) other natural terrain like caves/hills/mountains will hide your body heat.
Sadly, I was watching Predator the other day (the original one) and I would not count on using mud like Schwarzenegger to hide from thermal because even if the mud did block out your body heat for a short time — it would quickly heat up and then be visible.
So let’s talk about what does work…
How To Build A Thermal Evasion Suit
Snakebite Tactical sells a ready-made suit for this purpose. They also produced this video to share the info on how to make your own for free.
Let’s talk about what we have learned …
So the main thing you want to do is block your body heat right?
The first thought everyone has is using an emergency blanket because it reflects your body heat back at you.
It’s a sound idea, but the problem is that your body heat quickly warms up the reflective material.
According to these guys, the best way to avoid all these problems is to go with a multi-layer system.
The first layer is Radiant Barrier material — the stuff made to reflect heat back into homes — appears to be the best material to make it out of.
Second layer is thin layer of polyster padding to create airspace. Airspace is crucial. About an inch thick.
Third layer is another layer of Radiant Barrier Material – facing the opposite direction of the first layer.
At this point, you have blocked your thermal signature.
But because you want to actually be camouflaged, you need to add an extra layer to camouflage the suit.
The primary problem here is extra layers cause the suit to heat up quicker. Their solution is very thin ripstop nylon camouflage for the outside. To further break up the shape of the cloak, they added sniper veil webbing (extremely light) and fake leaves (help break up shape and also help to break up thermal energy).
You Can Also Use This Method To Create a Tent/Shelter Type Structure
Max Velocity Tactical used to sell something called an MVT Shield – designed to block thermal imaging too.
It works in much the same way.
To be completely clear, I’m not sure exactly how they build the MVT shield — but it this is what Max had to say:
“The MVT Shield, both this specific design as well as the general concept using less effective methods, has been tested and will block viewing of your thermal image, including all thermal bloom through the material. The outer sandwich layers are constructed of 70 denier rip-stop coated nylon with an inner double layer of thermal blocking material. The inner layers of thermal blocking material are not Mylar type ’emergency blankets,’ but a better, softer, more foldable/durable (‘non-crinkling”) alternative material.”
Further Max expands on some important points (emphasis mine):
“The MVT Shield is designed to be optimally used in conjunction with good fieldcraft, i.e. terrain and vegetation masking, as well as with an air gap between the user and the material.”
The important part is the “air gap” that the MVT shield is designed to utilize.
This air gap between you and the cover you’re using to evade thermal will keep your own body heat from heating your cover and rendering it ineffective.
Also, like Max says, utilizing good fieldcraft of regular concealment/camouflage will help.
That’s because even if you manage to block your body heat completely — you need to break up your silhouette to make sure you don’t look like a human. And in the day time (where thermal can also be used) it’s even more important obviously.
Once again, I bring you another installment of “This is why it’s impossible to ban guns” because they’re just so darn EASY to make!
This guy made a home-made 9mm “carbine” pistol from:
* A paintball gun
* Random parts from a hardware store
* hacksaw, dremel, welder, drill press and hand tools
And of course using his brain. In fact, he even designed it from scratch! Check it out:
How to make a homemade 9mm “carbine” pistol from a paintball gun!
This is neat, because I’ve never built my own gun from my own design. But this guy did.
Talk about simple, but genius!
Pretty neat that he used a Taurus PT111 magazine for this pistol caliber “carbine” pistol build. Like he said, he thinks he can use Sig P226 mags.
Except for the little bit of welding, none of this looks that hard. Pretty neat.
Homemade Guns Are a Learning Process!
This is the same guy, and I found this other video of his, where he shows off all the homemade guns he has made in the past and how well they worked, what went wrong, etc. Some very SIMPLE designs here! Especially the bolt action ones.
Have You Ever Made Any Homemade Guns?
If so, I’d love to hear about it. Share your story in the comments!
