Santa's Secret Service... with Candy Cane Guns! (VIDEO)

Santa's Secret Service... with Candy Cane Guns! (VIDEO)

He may know if you've been naughty, but these guys will curbstomp you if you so much as think about ingressing the perimeter.  The Claus' job is tough but trouble doesn't close in on St. Nick on account of this skilled team of determined, guarded, and well-armed elves.

And now you can get a rare glimpse inside the operations of one of the world's most fine-tuned and focused protective forces: Santa's Little Secret Service.

"Santa Claus prides himself on his ability to move freely about the world to undertake Christmas operations. The most visible symbol of Santa’s Christmas mobility is Sleigh One, his highly advanced personal transport. So it was only fitting that the Santa decided to bring Sleigh One to San Francisco’s Santacon, now in its 17th year of santarchy.

"As soon as the Office of the Santa added Santacon to its pre-Christmas Operational Window tour, Santa’s helpers mobilized to make the trip a safe and successful one. Such high profile visits by the Santa require multiple layers of security, so the elves of the Bureau of Special Christmas Operations, and the fighting reindeer, nutcrackers, and sugar plum fairies of Santa’s Defense Forces formed a joint task force to protect the Santa and Sleigh One. The mission was code-named: Operation Chimney Sweep.

MISSION REPORT

"The goals of Operation Chimney Sweep:

Provide 360 degree protection of Sleigh One and the SantaSweep for enemies of Santa, “Beards” (fake Santas), and suspicious giftsLiaise with the public and local authorities to ensure Christmas cheerGuarantee Christmas certainty at all costs

"Sleigh One never travels without an extensive security umbrella and Operation Chimney Sweep was no exception. Santa’s elves fielded two security elements from the Bureau of Special Christmas Operations. Santa’s Little Secret Service deployed a close protection detail of elite elvish bodyguards to protect both the Santa and his sleigh. Santa’s Little Intelligence Support Team (LIST) provided elf operatives trained in naughty/nice interrogation and identification of enemies of Christmas."

Not that they're limited to just the Kringle.  The SLSS guards all of the iconic holiday figures.  Seen here is the SLSS escorting Easter Bunny:

Not only are we treated to the operations of these tireless men and women, but we've been given some insight as to what sort of equipment they use on a daily basis to protect our beloved figures.

"A Fast Action Response Team of agents armed with Hare Armaments DK-97 60mm Assault Daikon were luckily unnecessary, thanks to the extensive preparedness of Santa’s Little Secret Service."

If you're in any way as fascinated by these diligent men and women as we are, people who risk their lives every day to protect the world's iconic figures, you owe it to yourself to learn more about Santa's Little Secret Service.

Bless you all, and godspeed.

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NY Times Says ‘Gays, Guns, and God’ Won’t Matter in 2012 Election (VIDEO)

Timothy Egan of the NY Times wrote an op-ed about why wedge issues like ‘Gays, Guns and God’ will have little impact on the election next year. 

To substantiate his argument, Egan pointed to a recent New York Times/CBS News Poll of likely Republican caucus goers. 

According to the poll, 40 percent of respondents said they were most concerned with the economy and jobs, followed by the budget deficit at 23 percent.  Only 9 percent cited social issues as a top concern. 

And as for the candidate who polled highest as one who “most represents the values you try to live by” – that was Michelle Bachmann, who is currently running in 5th place in the overall race.  

Egan also pointed to Gov. Perry’s latest efforts to gin up support by appealing to the three G’s, which, according to Egan, have fallen flat.

He wrote, “But the decline of the three G’s hasn’t stopped a few of the dead-enders in the Republican field from raising the flag. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, last seen trying to find a verb to follow 'oops,' is out this week with a very specific culture-war ad in Iowa, vowing to end 'Obama’s war on religion,' whatever that is."

With particular respect to guns, Egan said, “President Obama has done nothing to curb gun use. If anything, he’s expanded gun rights. There are probably a dozen Democrats in Congress from the West who know more about guns than Mitt Romney or Professor Newt Gingrich. That dog, as they say, will not hunt — not this year.”

One can argue that it is presumptuous of Egan to make such a claim, especially regarding guns. 

For starters, one can say that Romney has had troubling pulling away from the pack due to his dubious stance on firearms. 

But, more broadly speaking, the issue of guns has not been discussed during the debates to a great extent because all of the candidates voice pro-Second Amendment rhetoric. 

To discuss an issue where there is a majority consensus with very little variation seems to be, at least to the moderators, a waste of time.  As a result, many voters see all the candidates (again, with the exception of Romney) as being equally pro-gun. 

Therefore, voters need to turn to and place importance on other criteria (ability to create jobs, plan to reduce deficit, potential to beat Obama) to make an informed decision about which candidate to support.

All that said, the biggest fault with Egan’s presumption is the notion that President Obama has done nothing to curb gun use. 

While it’s true that many states over the past four years have become increasingly pro-Second Amendment (Wisconsin, for example), the Obama Administration has presided over the failed gunwalking operation Fast and Furious, which was used to justify the long-arm multiple purchases tracking measure. 

This inconvenient truth will certainly come back to haunt Obama in the 2012 election and overshadow his otherwise laissez-faire stance on the Second Amendment.  In short, and to the chagrin of Egan, this dog will hunt. 

(For more on this, one can also check out NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre’s essay on why gun owners will make a difference in the 2012 election).

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Tap, Rack, Ready: Immediate Action Drill AR15 (Video)

If you find yourself in a firefight, it's important to remember you don’t have time to waste, so in some situations getting your primary weapon system operational should necessarily take a backseat to your own safety or other avenues of self-defense. The long and short is this: if you find yourself within handgun range, dump the AR and transition to your sidearm or secondary weapon.  A good rule of thumb is 25 yards. So, if you’re within 25 yards or less of the target and you experience a malfunction (of any kind), transition to your secondary weapon. It would also be a good idea to seek cover.

If you’re 25 yards (give or take a few yards) or more away from the threat, fix your primary weapon system—in this case your AR15—and get back in the fight. First you'll need to find cover (and hopefully a lull in the action), then you’ll need to get your primary weapon back up and running. Here’s the three-step process of what to do after you pull the trigger and hear a click:

1.  Put your trigger finger straight and off the trigger. This is called the “index” position and it will help prevent a negligent discharge.

2. Tap the magazine once you’ve got your finger in the proper index position.

3.  Rack the charging handle.

These must be done in this order. If your magazine isn’t fully seated, all the racking and manipulating of the bolt and bolt carrier in the world won’t help you. Why? Because the rounds aren’t up the mag well high enough to load. Again, you must tap then rack. Now, you’re back in the fight.

The immediate action drill is often abbreviated IAD and is also known as Tap, Rack, Ready. Doing an IAD with a rifle is very similar to a pistol IAD, so AR15s are a wise place to start when practicing this technique.

The most efficient and tactical way to do a IAD, is to tap the mag with your support hand. In fact, you should always touch, tap, load and reload the magazines with your support hand.

Then, you’ll want to charge the weapon by racking the charging handle. It’s best to do this, again, with your support hand. That will leave you free to put your finger back on the trigger and shoot a lot of rounds quickly at your threat.

Make sure to keep your muzzle up, looking for threat. Remember, head up, eyes up, gun up.

Be safe. Train hard. As you may have heard, “it’s better to sweat in training than to bleed in battle.” Until next time, continue to hone your skills and keep adding to your tactical toolbox.

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Obama Welcomes Troops Home From Iraq (VIDEO)

Yesterday, President Obama gave a speech commemorating the end of the Iraq War to a crowd of troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

“As your commander in chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I’m proud to finally say these two words: Welcome home.”

He reflected on the nine long years the war lasted. 

“We remember the early days — the American units that streaked across the sands and skies of Iraq,” President Obama said. “In battles from Nasiriya to Karbala to Baghdad, American troops broke the back of a brutal dictator in less than a month.”

And yet, Mr. Obama said, “we know too well the heavy costs” of the Iraq War: “Nearly 4,500 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice, including 202 fallen heroes from here at Fort Bragg. 202.” 

Additionally, more that 30,000 troops were wounded in the war effort.  

“There have been missed birthday parties and graduations,” Obama said. “There are bills to pay and jobs that have to be juggled with picking up the kids. For every soldier that goes on patrol, there are the husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters praying that they come back.”

“For all of the challenges that our nation faces, you remind us that there’s nothing that we Americans can’t do when we stick together,” Obama continued. “It’s why the United States military is the most respected institution in our land. It’s why you, the 9/11 generation, have earned your place in history.”

He concluded with “I am proud of you.”

One can’t help but to notice the political agenda behind this speech.  And it’s shame that a day meant to honor the fallen and those who’ve served our country with dignity and honor has to be marred by politics, but as the New York Times pointed out (of all Newspapers) the speech had a palpable political bent to it that belied the sincerity of Obama’s words. 

Quotes from the Times:

The speech was the latest in a series of public appearances orchestrated by the White House to signal the end of the conflict and to drive home the point that Mr. Obama fulfilled one of his 2008 presidential campaign promises.”

He brought along his wife, Michelle, who has been working with veterans’ families since Mr. Obama took office. At times, the visit seemed like a campaign swing.

Mr. Obama’s campaign advisers see North Carolina, a traditionally red state that Mr. Obama unexpectedly won in 2008, as a potential key to the president’s re-election path.  But Fort Bragg and neighboring Fayetteville, with its large African-American population full of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, will need to join urban areas like Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham in turning out for Mr. Obama if the president is to have a chance of repeating that unlikely victory next year.

But should one really be surprised with the way the Iraq War has been politicized? 

After all, the reality is that the Iraq War has ended not because President Obama felt it was the right thing to do, but because the old Bush occupation agreement was expiring and Iraqi officials refused to create a new agreement that offered the same indemnification for American troops stationed there, i.e. troops would be held accountable to Iraqi law, not U.S. law if they stayed passed 2011. 

In the end, a largely political war was ended for political reasons.  Perhaps this goes to prove the old maxim that “war is the continuation of politics by other means.”  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Obama has used the War as political grist. 

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The Problems with Bloomberg’s Undercover ‘Point, Click, Fire’ Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales (VIDEO)

The Problems with Bloomberg’s Undercover ‘Point, Click, Fire’ Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales (VIDEO) The findings of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s undercover investigation, Point, Click, Fire: An Investigation of Illegal Online Gun Sales, are startling at first glance.

According to the findings of the investigation:

•    62 percent of private gun sellers -- 77 of 125 online sellers contacted -- agreed to sell a firearm to a buyer who said he probably couldn't pass a background check – a felony under federal law.    
•    82 percent of sellers on Craigslist agreed to sell guns to people they believed to be prohibited purchasers – though the website prohibits online firearms sales.
•    Besides Craigslist, unlicensed sellers also offered arms at alarmingly high rates with no questions asked at Armslist, Gunlistings, Glocktalk and the classified section of Utah news website KSL.com.
•    Sellers in five Southern states -- Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and Virginia -- were the worst offenders, followed closely by dealers in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Texas. 
•    Midwest sellers have the best record, with 48 private sellers refusing to make illegal sales.

But if one were to drill down into the report itself it becomes apparent that the investigation has several shortcomings, inconsistencies, and problem areas.  That is it’s not as comprehensive and as detailed as it claims to be and, as a result, one would conclude that further investigation is needed before any of the report’s proposed solutions are seriously considered. 

Before those aforementioned flaws are discussed, here is how the investigation was conducted: 

Over a period of 18 days, a team of 15 investigators examined 125 private sellers from 14 states who advertised guns for sale on 10 different websites.  The team conducted an undercover probe to capture audio and video recordings of online gun sellers.

The probe hinged on the fact that if a seller has reason to believe that a buyer would not pass a background check, then the seller must not follow through with the sale of the firearm (see video). 

So, now to look at those shortcomings, inconsistencies, and problem areas, briefly put, the investigation is flawed for the following reasons (a) the targeted criteria used to select sellers (b) the inconsistencies within the sample sizes (c) the questionable conclusions and recommendations the authors of the report make about online gun sales. 

Cherry Picking Sellers

In looking at the report, the criteria used to select sellers for the investigation seems to have favored those sellers who have telltale signs of being unscrupulous.  Instead of randomly selecting sellers, it appears that investigators targeted those individuals who would be more inclined to break the law. 

Here’s what the report states with respect to the criteria used:

Investigators chose which private sellers to investigate based on several factors, including whether the seller had a relatively high volume of unique gun-related posts, whether they were selling a make and model of gun commonly used in crimes and whether the seller included direct contact information in their listing.

There are some obvious red flags in looking at these factors, i.e. what exactly are “unique gun-related posts”?  Did the listing in someway imply that the seller was willing to sell to anyone? 

The truth is that one can find almost anything on the Internet.  There are certain code words that criminals use to sell firearms, drugs, sex, etc. on the web.  It appears that investigators were sensitive to such signs and pursued sellers who used and/or exhibited those signs

However, this fact is not disclosed in their findings.  The way the info is worded is meant to imply a representation of the entire online gun community, “62 percent of online sellers agreed to sell guns to investigators posing as buyers who couldn’t pass a gun background check – a felony under federal law.” 

There's no qualifying remark to suggest that the sellers met certain criteria.

The investigation should have included a randomized selection of online sellers (a control group) to cross reference with its targeted sample.   

Sample Size Inconsistencies

Even if one argues that the investigators did not specifically target sellers who exhibited some element of criminal intent, then one has to acknowledge that there are inconsistencies regarding the sample sized used for each website. 

Here is a graph of the number of ‘integrity tests’ used on various websites:

Now, here is a graph of the “Active Gun Listings By Website.”

The obvious question is regarding proportion.  Why aren’t the sample sizes used proportionate to the number of gun listings? 

For example, Craigslist had 1,792 guns listed for sale with a total number of 17 ‘integrity tests,’ whereas KSL.com had 2,713 guns listed for sale with a total number of 12 ‘integrity tests.” 

Why did KSL.com have fewer ‘integrity tests’ than Craigslist?  Shouldn’t the ‘integrity tests’ be proportionate to the number of gun listings?    

Is this not a sign of statistical manipulation? 

One would assume that an objective study would have a sample size proportionate to the number of listings to create statistical consistency, especially if the report is going to push percentages about a population and make broader conclusions like there is a “vast and largely unregulated market for illegal guns.”

Questionable Conclusions And Recommendations

The report makes the following conclusions and recommendations:

• Federal law should require a background check for every gun sale. Legislation now pending in both chambers of Congress – The Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011 (S.436/ H.R.1781 (112th Congress)) – would enact this reform.

• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) should improve enforcement of existing laws. ATF should conduct undercover investigations on a variety of websites, track whether guns recovered in crimes were originally sold online and offer online tutorials to train sellers and buyers on federal gun laws governing online sales.

• Websites should adopt tougher protocols to deter crime. Websites that permit gun sales should demand transparency from sellers and buyers, facilitate reporting of suspicious behavior by site users and swiftly remove prohibited listings.

However, within the same report it states that all of the aforementioned can be accomplished “without restraining the legal trade in firearms among law-abiding sellers and buyers.”

First off, that new law would complicate sales between law-abiding gun owners.  There’s no doubt about that. 

Second, who really believes that the ATF should be conducting more sting operations?

And lastly, law-abiding gun owners have no problem rooting out unscrupulous sellers.  But the first step to doing this is by looking at the issue objectively, not through the fractured lens of a flawed report.  

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VIDEO Proyek Pembuatan Indonesia 4.5 Semi-Stealth Fighter KFX

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