Using a small storm as a test run for preparedness.

We just got through riding out Hurricane Sally. I was working in the emergency room during the early part of landfall, and I drove home in the Wrangler about an hour or so before the eyewall landed on us. It was a maxed out category two storm. All in all, not terrible. No damage to our house or vehicles, very little to clean up on the property. Parents and siblings doing well too. We lost power for only about two days.

My wife and I are of the prepper mindset, and we like to use the large thunderstorms we get here on the Gulf Coast to shore up our preps every year. We rarely get to "practice" with cyclones like tropical storms and small hurricanes like Sally because they don't hit as often as they did when we were growing up. We were able to check some boxes this time and make a few changes to our list. For example, drop the kerosene and get more lamp oil, because kerosene smokes and lamp oil does not. As always, need more gas cans, more propane tanks, more ammo, more rain barrels and more sandbags. Going to get a burn barrel and a tow chain. Need to get the CB radio running. There is always something you think of when the lights are out for an extended period of time, that you won't ever think about when the lights stay on.

One thing to note is that this was originally supposed to hit much farther west of us as a tropical storm. So instead of getting a rain band with no wind, we got a direct hit from a category two storm, and it was almost a category three. Easily managed, but still a big difference. Always expect the worst. I had just told my wife that all of the storms that had come near us for the last several years always ended up west of where they predicted. This one ended up well EAST instead, right on top of us.

The way we prepare for the big hurricanes (that will come eventually) translates pretty well to how we would prepare for some other grid-down disaster. You still have to think of it in terms of hierarchy. Shelter, water, food, security. Once those essentials are handled, you move to the secondary needs, medical, commo, intelligence and transportation.

I guess I should have guessed we'd get a lot of storms this year. It's been a hell of a year, 2020. And we still have an election left to go...

Replace RBG now.

The Republitard Party needs to ram Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement through the Senate ASAP. None of this waiting game to entice Republitard voters to get out the vote. Considering how easily the Demotards are able to push the Republitards around, even back when the Republitards had the White House, the Senate AND the House, you need to take the wins, as rarely as they come for the Republitards, when you can get them.

Trying to entice right wing voters to show up on election day and vote Trump by dangling another SCOTUS pick in front of them is losing effort. Even if Trump has the numbers to win, that might not be enough. In this era of revolution and violence, the Demotards are willing, and probably able, to do anything and everything to steal the election. If that happens, y'all will be really sorry that the Senate didn't jam Trump's nominee through at breakneck speed. His nominee is expected to be announced within days, and it's been known for a year or more that it's likely to be Amy Coney Barrett. Apparently instead of just picking who the best candidate is, we just replace a woman with a woman. No matter, I guess, that the vast majority of women take a hard left turn ideologically once they get to a position of new power. It's no surprise that the two biggest obstacles in the Senate are Republitard senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. Murkowski is in a tough campaign right now, so she will be looking to ride the fence and stonewall whomever she can. In this case she will be stonewalling her party on the SCOTUS nomination.

Take the wins where you can get them. Especially when the wins have been as rare as they have been.

The mental gymnastics of these people.

Taking an anthropology class, I noticed that the course explains that European explorers "exploited" foreign lands. This chapter is about the science aspect of anthropology. No mention at all of how European explorers contributed to science. Just their "exploitation".

College classes are hard now because people like us, traditionalists, have to wade through a lot of the material to avoid propaganda and brainwashing. Younger generations, like those 20 years old and younger, usually do not have the experience to recognize and defend against it. On top of that, most don't have the will to defend against it. It's easier to just agree with it and soak it in and go with the crowd.

Here's a hint...

Next time you try to think a thought and put it into words, ask yourself "Is this something that everyone else is saying?"

If everyone else is saying pretty much the same thing, or even if it's just the majority of people who are all repeating the same thing, it's probably wrong, or at the very least, it's grossly over simplified.

Majority opinion is rarely based on reality. It's usually just based on self-preservation. People don't want to be standing outside of the group. In the best of times it will put you at a disadvantage. In the worst of times, like today, it can be detrimental to your safety and survival.

Try thinking of something original, something no one, or almost no one, is thinking or saying. You have a much higher chance of it being something worth your time.

It may be detrimental to you to do this, but it is a moral imperative to say the truth and be original when everyone else is lying and repeating the status quo.

Vortex Strikefire Red/Green Dot Sight Review

This is the Vortex Strikefire II red/green dot rifle optic. My dad owns the one you see pictured and I've used it myself. Here are my thoughts about the Strikefire II, occasionally compared to an EoTech XPS and an Aimpoint Comp M4/CCO/M68, as these are what I have owned and used downrange.

Price: I've posted the link above for the optic priced at $200. This price is more than fair for what you're getting in my opinion. You'll still be paying around $550 for the more well known, "higher end" optics like the EoTech XPS line and the Aimpoint CCO. I love both of those pieces, I own the EoTech and I had the Aimpoint in Korea, Germany and Afghanistan. Both are great, but you pay for it. The Strikefire is much more affordable and I have been impressed with the value.

Vision: The red/green dot is 4 MOA, as opposed to the 1 MOA red center dot on my EoTech. The Aimpoint CCO is 2 MOA, if I recall. Honestly, I think 4 MOA is plenty acceptable for the work we have ahead of us. The red/green dot is easily toggled and each color has ten brightness settings controlled by two buttons. This is not a scope, so there is no magnification.

Ergonomics: I'm pretty happy with the ergonomics, but this essentially just speaks to where the control buttons are located. You'll have two buttons on the left side of the optic, one is an up arrow, the other is down. Press either one to turn the dot on, press the up button to brighten, the down button to dim. Hold the bottom button until the color changes to toggle between green and red. Hold the top button to shut it off. Simple, and I love that the buttons are easy to access. My EoTech buttons are similar, but they're located in the center low near the rail. I have a G33 magnifier behind my XPS, so the buttons can be hard to press. Also, the optic sits high enough (but not too high) that there is no need for risers or spacers.

Zero: This optic has held the zero quite well. No major adjustments over the lifetime so far, only one minor adjustment. There is a 100 MOA adjustment range and each click is 1/2 MOA. Four of us were scoring hits at 300 yards in clear weather using 62gr ammo.

Rugged: The Strikefire is water resistant but not waterproof. Rain is fine, but put it underwater. It is shockproof, which is a must for any combat rifle optic.

Misc: Use two eyes to aim, this thing is large enough for it. Cowitnessing is easy with Magpul BUIS. Length is 5.6 inches and it weighs 7.2oz. Using a CR2 battery, you're supposed to be able to get a maximum of 600 hours of life at optimum temps.

My recommendation is that if you don't have the money to purchase something like the Aimpoint Comp M4, you can pick up the Strikefire II from Vortex and you will be more than good to go.

Review of Captain's Blog response to American Partisan

 In this previous post on American Partisan, we learned about the experience some fellow well-trained patriots had when they had a run-in with an AntiFa mob. It wasn't pretty, and our guys are not slackers by any stretch of the imagination. Like I said, they're well trained and they have combat experience overseas. They learned a lesson and we need to heed their words. The people we will be fighting are not the gender-studies degree-having, pink haired sissies we like to meme about. They will shoot you, or smoke you in the head with a skateboard, or pepper spray and blind you if you don't watch yourself. And even then, they still might. This fight is coming, it's going to be nasty, and we're all going to have to give a little blood.

In this post at the Captain's Journal, there is an excellent review of the first post, and some salient points I've been thinking about for a long time and haven't addressed here yet. Namely, what is going to happen when some patriot, or group of patriots, are guarding a business or something, and actually have to fire their weapons in their own self defense? As the CJ stated, "There are two states in America where one can legitimately defend property with deadly force...", those being Missouri and Texas. There are some states which have laws that "allow" one to do so, but the legal system is full of traps and pitfalls, and let me tell you about these district attorneys. Even in Texas and Missouri, if they want you, they will get you. And the DA always has a ton of incentive to get you, and zero incentive to let you go.

My biggest concern right now for our side, whatever it is we are calling ourselves this week, is that we have groups of men who march out there to do what needs to be done, and the law enforcement apparatus that we all support so much ends up being turned on us. The people from the top to the bottom will likely follow their orders, even if those orders are to bypass the AntiFa rioters and come after you. It's been done already.

It is simply not easy to defend yourself in America today. They can not get our guns. By my own best estimate, based on the NICS numbers over the past years, there are likely at least 600 million guns in the US. So instead of taking them, they will simply criminalize their use in self defense.

CJ also mentions that we could end up changing our TTPs, and operate from distances rather than up close. This will become necessary.

 

Some parting advice when you're in a hot zone (either by choice or not):

-Don't ever talk to the media or anyone with a camera. They are out to get you killed. Get away from them or get them away from you. Don't let them ID you. AntiFa is looking at media photos and videos, trying to ID our people so they can locate, ambush and kill them. Yes, this is happening. The media is aware and they are good with that.

-Don't advertise your location or intentions to anyone. Only your hard-hearted friends need to know that you're defending businesses and homes. The media and Fakebook do not. Why do you even have a Fakebook?

-Please kit yourself as you need, but be able to blend in too. It's not Kandahar or Baghdad. Don't stick out in a crowd. They key on that.

-Have three escape routes for each mode of transport (primary, secondary, emergency). Have a motor vehicle? Three routes. Have a bike stashed away? Three more routes. Have two working legs? Three more routes AND two hide spots in the nearby area if you can't egress far enough. It would suck to sit inside a hollowed out tree behind the corner store a block away, or on top of the fire escape down the road for six hours while the fighting dies down but it sucks less than being killed by a mob in the street.

-NEVER go anywhere alone. Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself masterfully for his situation, but to my knowledge, he started out with a group of people. He found himself alone at some point. Do not find yourself alone. Don't leave your group. AntiFa isn't going to, so you don't either.

AntiFa tactics - Must read from American Partisan

https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/09/antifa-reality-check/

Bad news. And our side is still forced to keep our sidearms holstered to keep ourselves out of prison.