Western US sagebrush defense plan will endure, official says
o o o
Poisonous ornamental plant blamed for elk deaths near Boise
o o o
Western Wyoming pronghorn migration is late but successful
o o o
Montana: Republicans look to cut $120M in state agency spending
o o o
Herd of 41 elk die in Eastern Oregon after falling through ice
After some profit-taking after flirting with the $1,000 USD mark, the value of Bitcoins has dropped to around $894 USD. It’s not shabby, for those who invested in Bitcoins when 1BTC cost less than $20.
o o o
The U.S. Empire Would Have Collapsed Decades Ago If It Didn’t Abandon The Gold Standard
o o o
Here’s a unique sign of inflation
o o o
Gold And Silver Price Forecast: This Week’s Price Action Being Crucial To Trend
o o o
SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
Who’s attacking the Drudge Report? – DSV
o o o
Be careful about who you choose to repair your computer: The FBI Is Apparently Paying Geek Squad Members To Dig Around In Computers For Evidence Of Criminal Activity – C.F.
o o o
Reader H.L. sent the link for Comcast outage map which is pretty interesting. There are a number of services monitored if you navigate to the home page.
o o o
NM Hunting Guide, Client Wounded on Mexico border. – W.C.
o o o
Pat Cascio, SurvivalBlog’s Senior Product Review Editor, has informed us that Oregon’s Attorney General, sworn in yesterday, has already proposed an “assault weapon” and “hi capacity magazine” ban. Heavily funded by Bloomberg with the understanding that she introduce anti-gun legislation, she has wasted no time.
“We cannot have a world where everyone is a victim. ‘I?m this way because my father made me this way. I?m this way because my husband made me this way.’ Yes, we are indeed formed by traumas that happen to us. But you must take charge, you must take over, you are responsible.” – Camille Paglia
On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries.
My, how times change! It wasn’t all that long ago that a red dot sight was rather huge when mounted on a rifle, and no one even gave any thought to a red dot sight on a handgun. I still remember the first (sorta) red dot sight I ever owned. It was on a shotgun back in the 1970s. It wasn’t quite a red dot sight, but it appeared to project a red/orange dot in the air. It was quite the thing back in the day. Over the years, I’ve tried all manner of red dot sights on rifles, shotguns, and handguns. One thing they all had in common was that they always failed when I used them. The red dot wouldn’t work, or it was totally way off from the last time I adjusted it for windage and elevation. And, to be sure, it didn’t matter if it was a $500 or a $30 red dot sight; they all failed in some manner, so I lost faith in them.
I know that the U.S. military uses red dot sights of several different makes and manufacturers, but even the expensive ones cause problems. I personally wouldn’t want to go into a combat situation knowing full well that my main aiming device might fail me or not even turn on due to dead batteries. I guess I’m just old fashioned. My ARs and AKs have “iron” sights . There’s not much to worry about going wrong under most conditions.
Enter Springfield Armory with their XD(m) OSP 9mm handgun with a tiny red dot sight on it from Vortex optics. Many competition shooters now mount red dot sights on their handguns (and rifles) and claim they are faster to pick up when aiming, compared to a standard sight setup. I stopped shooting competition back in the 1970s, well, mostly. Every now and then I’m invited to a shoot, and when I outperform everyone I’m never invited back. I don’t consider 200 yards “long range” shooting with a high-powered rifle, but some folks do.
I’ve been a huge fan of the entire XD line-up, from the original XD to the XDs and XD(m) in various calibers. They are not only top-notch handguns, they are value-priced if you ask me. I also enjoy a good deal, like everyone else does. This newest offering– the XD(m) OSP (Optical Sight Pistol)– is a full-sized 9mm handgun, meant for duty use or for competition. It can be concealed with the right holster and covering garment, but it is mostly for duty and competition, in my humble opinion. The XD(m) OSP is a 19+1 round pistol that comes with two 19-rd magazines. The slide/barrel is 4.5 inches long.
The OSP also has a one-piece full-length guide rod, and it only weighs 29 oz empty. The polymer frame contributes to the light weight of the gun. The slide is stainless steel but coated with Melonite– a black finish that really repels the elements. Strangely, Springfield doesn’t supply a double mag case or a holster with this model, like they do with their other XD handguns; however, they can be purchased separate from Springfield. I had two holsters from Blackhawk Products. One was their SERPA for carrying on the belt; the other was their inside the pants holster. I didn’t much care for the inside the pants holster. Then again, I’ve never much cared for them. The waist band holster was outstanding, though, with a great fit!
The selling point of this newest XD(m) offering is, of course, the Vortex Venom red dot sight that is attached to the rear of the slide. The slide is milled out at the factory. You can get this OSP without a red dot and install your own, if you already have one. However, I elected to get my sample set up from the factory with the Venom red dot already attached, plus it comes with three adaptor plates that allow you to directly attach other optics. There is also a matching cover plate, should you elect to remove the red dot sight and just go with the standard sights. For complete information on the various other red dot sights that you can mount on the OSP, go to the Springfield Armory’s website.
The Vortex Venom has a 3 MOA red dot, and it is just perfect for self defense or competition use. It is fast to pick up. Plus, it has ten brightness settings for various weather or indoor/outdoor lighting conditions. You can adjust the setting manually or set the Venom to adjust automatically to the lighting conditions. By the way, the XD(m) also comes with three back straps that the user can change to make the gun fit their hand better. I installed the smallest one, and it worked fine for my large hands.
I did a little research on the Vortex website and found that the Venom red dot sight will operate for up to 150 hours at the brightest setting, and at the lowest setting the battery can last as long as 30,000 hours. You read that right; it can last 30,000 hours. The Venom only weighs around two ounces, so it really isn’t adding any extra weight to the gun. There is also a rubber cover that you can attach to the Venom to keep dirt and dust off of it, and if you set the sight to automatically turn on when the cover is removed that makes it fast into action, especially if you are using this gun as a bedroom/house gun. There’s no little button to press to turn the sight on. However, I couldn’t get the rubber cover to stay on my sample. In reality, it only takes a second to turn the red dot on. And, even if you couldn’t get it turned in, you can still hit what you are aiming at, if it is within the lens.
Here is what I would do, if I were a cop these days. I’d carry the OSP with the Venom turned on and set to the middle brightness setting. That is all I needed for even the brightest days. At the end of my shift, I would turn the Venom off, and the red dot will easily last you a couple months. After that, I’d replace the battery. When you replace the battery, you don’t have to remove the Venom from the slide, so there are no worries about your zero changing. Speaking of the zero, my sight was way off and not even close to being zeroed. It only took a few adjustments of the windage and elevation screws to get me zeroed at 25 yards, and it doesn’t take much to change the zero . Very few “clicks” is all it took. Now, the best thing about the Vortex Venom is the lifetime warranty, even if you are not the original purchaser. What’s not to like there?
Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I’ve had every red dot I’ve ever used fail me, so I was sure this Venom would be my next victim in my testing. The force of the slide slamming back and forth, really puts a lot of stress on an optic like the Venom. I fired plenty of +P+ JHP 9mm ammo through the OSP, and the zero never changed, nor did the red dot magically disappear on me. It was outstanding! I was extremely impressed.
Now, to the red dot setup itself, I found that I was always pointing the gun a little bit too high and the red dot wasn’t visible in the lens. This has nothing to do with the red dot. I just naturally, for some reason, when holding a handgun, point it a little too high. It only takes a fraction of a second to correct this with standard sights. However, it took a little bit of time for me to get the barrel of the gun pointed downward so I could see the red dot. Again, it’s not the fault of the gun/red do; it was me. However, with practice, I could bring the OSP up and the red dot was visible to my eye without any further adjustment of my shooting hand.
As always, the nice folks at Black Hills Ammunition and Buffalo Bore Ammunition provided with me with an outstanding assortment of 9mm ammo for this article. Without their kind assistance, I wouldn’t get many firearm articles written, so please give them your business.
From Black Hills, I had their 115-gr JHP +P, 124-gr JHP +P, 115-gr FMJ, 115-g hollow point EXP (Extra Power), 124-gr JHP, and their 115-gr Barnes TAC XP all-copper hollow point that is +P rated. From Buffalo Bore, I had their 147-gr JHP Standard Pressure load, 147-gr Outdoorsman Hard Cast FN +P load, 115-gr Barnes TAC XP all-copper hollow point that is +P+ rated, 115-gr JHP +P+, 124-gr JHP +P+, and their 124-gr Penetrator FMJ FN +P+ load.
I won’t keep our readers waiting. There were zero malfunctions of any sort with any of the ammunition and not even a hint of bobble, even with the hottest +P and +P+ loads. I will say though, the last couple of rounds are a real bugger to get loaded into the magazine. What I did was load the mags and let them sit for two weeks after my testing. Then, I emptied those mags and reloaded them. They were much easier to load after that. I’ve run into this problem with some other 9mm magazines that hold a lot of rounds, and the solution was to load the mags up and let them sit for a couple weeks. After that, they were much easier to load back up to full capacity.
Accuracy testing was done at 25 yards, using a jacket on top of a big rock. Honestly, there wasn’t a clear winner in the accuracy department. The XD(m) OSP shot all the ammo under three inches and some rounds were right in there at 2.5-inches, if I was on my game. I can usually find one or two loads that will give me the best accuracy but not this time around. You can’t ask for better performance and accuracy for a factory-standard 9mm handgun. In all, I fired well over 700 rounds of ammo during several shooting sessions.
I was quite impressed with the Vortex Venom red dot sight. It never failed me, nor did it lose its zero, and the slide on the OSP was really slamming back and forth with the +P and +P+ loads. What’s not to like here.
The Springfield Armory XD(m) OSP retails for $979; however, keep in mind that the Venom red dot sight alone retails for $329. Add in the slide that has already been milled out and the various plates that come with the gun for mounting different red dot sights, and I’d say this is quite a deal. Check an OSP out at your local dealer. It is a lot of gun, and you’ll readily fall in love with the trigger pull, too.
– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio
Makes 4 to 5 servings.
o o o
Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
HJL,
I would like to add one statement to this discussion. The door going in and out of the USA swings both ways. Is it a matter of my way or the highway? In a word, no. However, I am begging for any liberal of any stripe to please tell me where it is so much better to live on this planet, and once stated, why are you not there? I am a firm believer in voting with your feet. I and many others have done it, and so can anyone else. Quit your complaining. – C.N.
o o o
Hugh,
Without the 2nd amendment the Constitution is merely idealistic graffiti written upon a parchment barrier. With only the 2nd amendment, you have all the liberties in the rest of the Constitution and can reconstruct the whole. Without the 2nd amendment, you only have the liberties the tyrants find in the Constitution, if any. – T.Z.
A major danger of paper money: Rupees cancelled – DSV
o o o
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe Spends Nearly $6M On Vacation While Nation Starves. For more details about what is happening in Zimbabwe, read Cathy Buckle’s heartbreaking newsletters.
o o o
More Older Americans Taking Out Student Loans – G.G.
o o o
Prince Was Apparently Hoarding Gold Bars – G.G.
o o o
SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
“Small islands not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.” – Thomas Paine, in Common Sense
On this day, in 1835, the U.S. National Debt reached zero for the first and only time. This is also the birthday of the late Algis Budrys (born 1931, died June 9, 2008). He was the Lithuanian-American science fiction author who wrote the classic survivalist novel Some Will Not Die.
It is well recognized that the biblical Hebrew word for “house” is meant to refer to a man’s wife. The thinking is that a man builds a house by first taking a wife and then together they become one and make a family. So, how important is a wife to a man? Well, she is his home and is the one who enables him to have a comfortable and safe place to go (at least one that’s emotionally safe), a place to build a family, a place he can call his own to bring others, and even a place that demonstrates his honor within the community. She, through the work she does in the home and in the community, brings him honor also. Beyond being a child and a princess of the Most High God, there is no greater honor or role I can have than to be the home-maker for Hugh.
I’m Hugh’s partner in life, and I am his home. I’m the being with whom he has family, comfort, and honor. My efforts and behavior brings honor (or dishonor) upon him within our of community of influence, and his honor is also my honor. He loves, cherishes, and protects me. He provides for my needs and many of my wants and encourages me to pursue greatness, not only in home-making but in intellectual matters also. He has always been involved with our children, just as I have been. He is supportive and patient when I leave the home to care for others in our community, and he is at least as generous and charitable as I am, so there is no conflict when I want to give of my time to “mother” the motherless or visit the elderly or sit with the dying. He encourages this and gladly covers for me at home, if need be. We have a beautiful, cooperative relationship of respect and love for one another, trying to serve and care for the other, in our unique roles and responsibilities, though we help each other too. He helps me make the bed and in many other household duties, and I help him with the blog, as I write regular contributing articles.
This may seem “old fashioned” to many, but it is God’s way of looking at family. Our so-called liberal, feminist culture tells people that we should each look out for ourselves with a selfish attitude. It tells us that we have to keep score of wrongs and fight for whatever we think is ours, even within our families and marriages. Our culture tells us that we each deserve luxury as if it is “owed” to us somehow. Few of our grandparents could imagine that kind of thinking and certainly not our great grandparents.
There is also an expectation of instant gratification. If we don’t have it (whatever that latest “thing” is), then we’re told we should just get it and worry about paying for it later. This is the thinking that gets people into the bondage of indebtedness and sometimes addiction, too. Delayed gratification is something that most Americans don’t understand or practice. Try buying a pack of M&M’s or peanuts and eating them over the course of days instead of minutes. Can you? Can you eat just one M&M or peanut every couple of hours or must you shove the whole pack into your hand and consume them in one or two mouths full? Learning to relish something small is a good skill. It goes against the lies that commercials tells us– “consume, buy, consume, and do it right now; you need this to be happy”. However, finding pleasure in small things will be quite useful when TEOTWAWKI occurs and we have very little.
Consumer over-spending and indebtedness as well as the devaluation of a home-maker and expectation of instant gratification are merely a few examples among many shifts in our culture’s thinking that draw us away from the One who we need to lead us through whatever the future holds. We are bombarded in our culture with messages that tell us we need things and that we should be the one telling everyone else what to do. We are told that serving others is demeaning and that there is no honor in serving others or following someone, yet that is a complete and total lie.
So, think about your reaction to what I wrote above. Wives, how did you react to the idea of serving your husband as a wife who devotes herself to providing her husband with a home that is comfortable, safe, and gives him honor? Husbands, how did you feel about providing for, being patient with, and cherishing your wife? She is more valuable than rubies (Proverbs 31) and a gift from God. (Treat her tenderly and as a precious treasure.) How do you feel about caring for the poor, the sick or elderly, and the dirty travelers (like the homeless)? Are you okay with delayed gratification?
It’s not easy and most will not follow God’s way in this; Jesus told us that the way was narrow. The Bible clearly tells us to care for the widows and the orphans, especially those in our own families and the believers in our own communities. Jesus told us so. In Matthew 7:12-14, Jesus said:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Did you get that? There will be relatively few, according to Jesus, who find the narrow way that leads unto life! That means it is not what the crowd is doing. It’s not the way of the culture at large, especially when the culture is not following the law, the prophets, or our Savior– Jesus.
In Matthew 7:21-27, Jesus said:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Regardless of our resolutions and intent, what matters is our actions. When the figurative or real floods come, will we have built our house on a solid foundation that withstands these floods? Are you a man and woman who follows God and builds your family and your life upon God’s word and His ways rather than upon our culture? When the physical floods come, will we go the way of the hordes and rely on convenience and government, or will we work hard and prepare as the ants do for the winter and as Joseph did in preparation for a coming famine? Are we spiritually and physically fit, working hard to have what is needed for our household and also to have some to share with those in need who God puts in our path to help?
Another way to put this is to ask yourself who you follow. Do you spend much of your time and thought “following” people and organizations on Facebook and Twitter? Do you follow a celebrity, someone at work or in your career who excels in some way, or someone who catches your eye (but may not be worthy of your heart, mind, and soul), or someone who has your heart above all others?
If you profess to be a follower of Jesus, are you really His follower? If so, then you know how He lived, understand His teachings from the perspective of His culture and time, and you are modeling your life and actions based upon this. In evaluating your knowledge of the One you’re following, I’ll list just some of the questions you might ask yourself. How did Jesus respect His Father, worship His Father, treat his friends and family, serve others, and view material things? What holy days did Jesus keep and how? Did Jesus prepare for the future and teach His followers to do the same? How did Jesus use money? What did He teach about worry? Did He always engage in conflict or were there times He avoided communities where there would be confrontation? Did He spend time in prayer to His Father? How did Jesus pray? Was Jesus a weakling or did He have the strength to endure horrific beatings and still carry His cross toward the place of His crucifixion? What did Jesus eat and wear? How did Jesus treat women, the elderly, children, the sick, the tax collector, and the prideful religious men? How did He respond to the merchants conducting business in the court of the Gentiles– a place that was supposed to be reserved for worship? When He healed someone, what did He often tell them about their sin? These are just some of the things you might ought to know about the God you profess to follow.
After Jesus healed people, He sometimes challenged them to “go and sin no more”. I believe He was asking them to turn away from their sinful “norm” and to make a commitment, a resolution if you will, to pursue righteousness. They had met Perfection, and He had healed them. After meeting Him, they had a choice to go back to doing things the way they had wanted to and how they’d been living before, or they could follow what His Father instructed in the Scripture and to be blessed by living like Jesus modeled for them.
Jesus was a miraculous cure in the land of Israel during His time on Earth. He wiped out disease, it seems. He healed leprosy, gave sight to the blind, stopped the bleeding of those with chronic hemorrhaging, stopped seizures and fevers, and He even brought the dead back to life. He had power over demons and controlled the storm winds and the water. He could turn water into wine and multiply food. In a catastrophic crisis, wouldn’t you like to have a leader with those kinds of powers?
Yes, this is true. However, while I have not searched a lot of boxes of halves, pretty much I have found at least one or two per box searched with the most being 12. Yes, getting them back to a bank can be a pain, but they can be spent or brought to a counter. It’s kind of fun to search and find the silver at face value. ?- DSV
“Depressed” Millennials Are Convinced The Trump Economy Is Going To Implode – H.L.
o o o
Money-Supply Growth Accelerates in Late 2016
o o o
Factory Orders Plunge 2.4% Taking Away Most of Last Month’s Rise
o o o
Jobs Report Jump Starts Dow and Dollar
o o o
SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
Over at Zero Hedge: Americans Couldn’t Wait To Ditch These 10 States In 2016. (None, of course, were in The American Redoubt.)
o o o
My thanks to everyone who has made Ten Cent Challenge subscription donations for 2017. Please note that the PayPal address to use is: james@rawles.to
o o o
I noticed that the InfoGalactic free online encyclopedia has moved to a much faster server, making it much easier to use. – JWR
o o o
Eight vegetables you can buy once and then grow forever – G.P.
o o o
Staying Off Grid When “Nearly Everything Is Chipped, Almost Everything Is Tracked” – B.B.