If you live in an area in which you may purchase firearms then do so. Too often “gun people” tend to mix in finance and self-sufficiency into self preservation. Let me be clear on something, there is nothing efficient, cost-saving, or frugal about the purchase of weapons or training in how to use them. Weapons and weapons training is a black hole for wealth and currency. Governments have been tossing money down this black hole, sacrificing hard earned dollars all in the hopes that when the time came the God’s of fortune and battle would side with them. Think about it, if a Army goes on out an annual exercise how does the country supporting that military recoup the cost of feeding, sheltering and training those individuals? Short answer, it doesn’t. The most powerful militaries of the world were funded by serfs, slaves and colonies. Running a competent combat ready force takes massive resources to include time, money, and human lives. Why should the individual who wishes to defend himself or his family be any different? I often hear from people, “Maybe I should get a gun but I can’t afford it right now.” Yet these same people will buy furniture on credit cards and cars through financing options. Why should personnel protection be any different? For one it is one of the few assets one can own that doesn’t readily depreciate and may help to change the course of one’s life, save a human life, or put food on the table. In this gun buying craze many people are shocked at the prices of once cheap military rifles. Don’t be fooled, a weapon in the hand is priceless when your life is in jeopardy. Buy while you can and don’t concern yourself with the cost. It is better to be in debt and armed than to not be able to protect what you already have.

Ammo ain’t that expensive, your funeral arrangements will be.

You know with all the talk of carbine classes, tactical training and the like I think  I will weigh in with my own two cents.

I know a lot of “schools” are offering tactical training or carbine classes for large sums of money. Blackwater (now XE), Thunder Ranch, and Gunsite are just to name a few. Classes range from $800 to $2000 easily, and range between two to five days. My personal opinions on these classes are that they are a joke and akin to 3 day stock trading seminars or “earn your black belt in 6 months” courses. They teach in fields of study that are not regulated and the piece of paper you have is worth little more than the materials it took to print it out. Anyone, myself included, could whip up a Tae-Kwon-Do McDojo or a “tactical operator” class, hire some former SF instructors and print out $2000 certificates. The truth of the matter is that while these classes do give you good bits of information for you to actually learn anything you will need to repeadetly go to these classes INDEFINATELY. This is why armed forces of most countries employ a full-time military force. This force constantly trains and their training becomes a lifestyle.

The same is true of martial artist who attend a school or schools three to five times a week, along with a workout routine for years on end. There is no stop, or end all or certificate that means anything. In order students of these thunder ranch type schools to become really proficient it would take considerable time and traning for their entire lifetimes. Simply taking a “tactical” course in AR15 carbine handling is a utter waste of time unless you plan to employ, practice, and build upon those skills for the rest of your life. However a lot of people who take these tactical training classes are just retirees, armchair commandos, non-front line Soldiers with deep pockets or body guards.

Lets not even get into the fact that a lot of this “tactical” training covers sitatuions that won’t happen. Even in the military, those who actually clear buildings or engage the enemy at distances greater than 500 meters are a RARITY. As to why so many civilians take these classes, buy expensive after market accessories and gear is beyond me. All the average American citizen really needs is time to practice dry-firing, a .22LR or airsoft equivalent in order to practice fundamentals,  a suitable rifle with iron sights and a dependable pistol or revolver. Note I said a suitable rifle, not a AR15 with a million bells and whistles, just a suitable rifle. I consider a suitable rifle for an American citizen or a Soldier to be a M1 Garand, an AR15 patterened after the M16A2, an AK47, a mini-14, or an M1A.

Now if someone has the time and money for a fully tricked out AR15 with a rail attachment, free float barrel, and thousands of dollars to burn on .223 ammunition then more power to them! However make no mistake, your not tactical, your not an operator and your echelons away from being proficient. Chances are if you have all that equipment and know how to use it you have probably already done so and someone else has footed the bill for all your training and equipment. Such as a Government…who are probably the only ones on this planet to be able to afford and justify such a massive spending expenditure on your person.

As for the average thehighroad.org poster or ARFCOMMER, the most intense actions they will probably face is a stand off on their public property with a criminal element/tresspassers, a home invasion, a hurricane katrina like situation. In those instances an iron sighted dependable rifle is the only thing you will need. People who slap all this crap on their AR15 have never had to lug that shit around. They just look at “tacticool” operators in movies or magazines and seems to conviently forget that their logistic requirements differ dramatically than their own. Those specialized teams were inserted by a helicopter, have a fire support team, and are only in an area of operations for no more than eight hours. Compare this to a hurricane katrina type situtaiton where you have no fire support team, have to defend others (ie your family or children), and are in your area of operations for well past 72 hours. Your primary concerns will be weight savings and AVOIDING conflicts. As such a dependable lightweight rifle is what you need. Additional accessories light lasers, lights, and night vision only make a once lightweight rifle into a cumbersome liability. You primary goal is survival, as such you avoid potentially dangerous sitatuions. If you had half a brain your primary mission to is leave the immediate vincinity. Your not trying to go “toe to toe” with the local rogue police department elements or gang members. Your primary needs are water, shelter and food. Your ammunition is there merely to sustain you from hostile elements. When you put that in perspective you then realize that stock-pilling thousands of rounds of .223 ammunition in preparation of the invasion WAS A STUPID IDEA! That you can only carry 6 fully loaded mags, water, food, and blankets on your perso. You may also have to carry additional equipment for your children along with medical supplies. That the very idea of a fire fight is a rarity even among combat veterans, and much more real threats such as dehydration, becoming lost, running out of food, and hypothermea are your REAL enemies!

What armchair commandos should be practicing is basic first aid, becoming CPR certified, knowing about heat casualities, getting into great physical shape, knowing basic surivival, escape and evasion tactics, game populations, and roads into and out of major cities that will support vehicular, 4×4 travel, and walking.  All the tactical gear and weapons won’t do you a bit of good if you pass out and die of heat exhaustion in the first 24 hours. Not to mention you have now presented yourself as a target to local law enforcement. Remeber, they are humans too and just as scared as you are in the event of an emergency. If they see three looters running from an area and a man in combat load vest with an assult rifle engaging them, who do you think they will see as a threat first? Put yourself in their shoes, their first thought is “Who the fuck is this guy!” and they will bear down on the percieved threat until they view it to longer be one.

I will further give my recommendations for tactical training.

1. Become CPR certified
2. Learn to use a map and a compass
3. Learn to use a GPS
4. Take any additional first aid classes you can (they are usually free or extremely cheap to the public, can also be taken at local community colleges)
5. Become familiar with local routes into and out of major areas to include road, hiking, or maritime routes.
6. Get in shape!
7. Practice with your pistol and rifle. Do not wear a tactical vest or anything else that stands out. Your SHTF rig should be same as your every day clothing. Don’t make yourself a target to local law enforcement or the National Guard. A good CCW belt and a holster will do just fine. Your rifle should be in your vehicle. Don’t go marching around your town in a “hurricane type situation” with a rifle. YOU WILL BE SHOT BY LOCAL LAW ENFORCENMENT.

That’s right, what all those “truthers” have been saying all along is coming to light…again. I’m actually amused at the number of sheople who think that the World Trade Center was caused by some people in a far away land by a man who we somehow can’t find. Then again according to surveys most people think guns magically cause crime, abortion isn’t murder, global warming is real and the economy will recover. Those same people also can’t find the country of Georgia on a map, haven’t even stepped foot on a college campus, and think America is the greatest country on earth.

http://rawstory.com//printstory.php?story=15093

04/04/2009 @ 10:36 pm

Filed by Stephen C. Webster

A team of scientists claim to have unearthed startling data from dust and debris gathered in the days and weeks after the World Trade Center towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.

In a study published by the Open Chemical Physics Journal — a peer-reviewed, scientific publication — Steven E. Jones and Niels Harrit level a stark allegation: that within the dust and rubble of the World Trade Center towers lays evidence of “a highly engineered explosive,” contrary to all federal studies of the collapses.

“We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the destruction of the World Trade Center,” reads the paper’s abstract. “One sample was collected by a Manhattan resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).”

The study, however, shows that the dust was collected from four different sites, three of which were not in the immediate area surrounding the fallen towers. Most of the samples are collections of dust taken from blocks away.

They claim their analysis has uncovered “active thermitic material”: a combination of elemental aluminum and iron oxide in a form of thermite known as “nanostructured super-thermite.”

Thermite, used in steel welding, fireworks shows, hand grenades and demolition, can produce a chemical reaction known for extremely high temperatures focused in a very small area for a short period of time.

According to the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research, super-thermite “is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services.”

“This finding really goes beyond anything that has previously been shown,” said Jones in a media advisory. “We had to use sophisticated tools to analyze the dust because this isn’t just a typical explosive, RDX or CD4 or something — this is a highly engineered material not readily available to just anyone.”

“The cost and production rate of super-thermite composites has limited the use of these materials in DoD applications,” claims the Navy’s SBIR.

Dr. Steven E. Jones, a former physicist at Brigham Young University and a founding member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, presented a paper in 2005 discussing alternatives to the government’s theory that massive structural damage combined with burning jet fuel to weaken the towers’ support infrastructure, causing a rapid “pancake” collapse.

In September 2006, under heavy criticism in the media and by several colleagues, the university placed Jones on paid administrative leave and his paper was removed from the BYU database.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which investigated the WTC tower collapses, maintains there was no recovered evidence of explosive materials. An electronic FAQ to the government’s theory is available online.

“We get a lot of calls from people who have heard these theories,” NIST spokesman Michael Newman told Newsday. “But we conducted what was probably the most complex investigation of a building collapse in history.”

“We based our conclusion on the talents of the world’s best engineers and scientists, state of the art computer models and 236 pieces of steel recovered from the site,” reads the NIST FAQ.

“The collapse of the WTC towers was not caused either by a conventional building fire or even solely by the concurrent multi-floor fires that day,” NIST says. “Instead, NIST concluded that the WTC towers collapsed because: (1) the impact of the planes severed and damaged support columns, dislodged fireproofing insulation coating the steel floor trusses and steel columns, and widely dispersed jet fuel over multiple floors; and (2) the subsequent unusually large, jet-fuel ignited multi-floor fires weakened the now susceptible structural steel.”

“No building in the United States has ever been subjected to the massive structural damage and concurrent multi-floor fires that the towers experienced on Sept. 11, 2001,” the agency claims.

This latest report, Jones told Visibility 9/11, “explodes the official story that ‘no evidence’ exists for explosive/pyrotechnic materials in the WTC buildings. The red/gray chips are the ‘loaded gun’ of 9-11.”