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As we all know by now, a respirator or mask is most useful for protection when you must be in close quarters with one or more people. That's why they are a must for healthcare workers and it looks like we'll be seeing more mask mandates for the general population. If you have to wear a mask in public, my feeling is it might as well be a good one. At the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, demand for masks worldwide outstripped production capacity and prices jumped to outrageous levels, prompting many of the handier types, like myself, to some...

These are my tips for people in TX and other places where they don’t normally have power outages in extremely cold weather and no experience with that and may not know what to do. These tips are based on my growing up in New England and also having lived in Maine and Utah, and having experienced multiple days of power outages in extreme cold. A number of houses I lived in either were poorly insulated and, in some cases, not all parts of the house had heat. 1. Check to see if any of your doors have a space at...

A SWAT Officer puts Vortex's 1×8 Low Variable Power Optic through its Paces at Two-Day Carbine Class. Holographic optics have come a long way in a very short time. They went mainstream in the late 1990s, and by the early 2000s were extremely popular with the military, law enforcement and civilian shooters. In the beginning there were a few major brands: Aimpoint, EO Tech, Trijicon. But the Global War on Terrorism turned holographic optics from “nice to have” into “must have,” as American troops were routinely outshooting their opponents armed primarily with iron sight weapons. In the field of magnified...

Somebody definitely saw it coming and tried to sound the warning. In 2018/19 The city council of Round Rock committed the entire city to "alternative" energy and nearly drove all residents away with the high electricity costs. Here's the article: Wherever you go in rural Texas today, you are likely to run across a new wind farm or solar farm being constructed. And why wouldn’t they be? Taxpayers and consumers are currently paying more than $2 billion annually to renewable energy companies operating in Texas. And with the threat that eligibility for the biggest renewable subsidy, the federal Production Tax...

Yes, options are almost limitless and hardcore gun enthusiasts will have their own takes, but what are some of the simplest, most foolproof weapons for newbies looking to protect themselves and/or their family? In these troubled times, many people are buying guns for the first time in their life, but the needs of the casual gun owner are different from the experienced shooter. They need the simplest and most foolproof weapon, not the most advanced expert's weapon. Most first-time gun buyers are probably doing so to defend themselves and their family, and if they end up using it, they will...

In total there were more than 21 million background checks conducted last year, compared to just over 13 million in 2019, and while there has been a steady increase yearly of around 8 percent, 2020 saw that significant jump. According to data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), while December saw a 24 percent increase in year-over-year sales, just after the election in November sales jumped by 49 percent from the prior year.

The first rifle on my list is the venerable Ruger 10/22. Designed to mimic the size and weight of the historic M1 Carbine, this compact weapon has made a name for itself as one of the most accurate, reliable, and affordable .22s on the market. It works great for small game hunting or propped by the back door for varmints, and with a 10-round magazine, it can handle self-defense in a pinch. There is also an endless list of aftermarket accessories available, so you can customize your rifle with ease.

I met German Philipp Zey a few years ago at Dieng Temple in Central Java in Indonesia. Philipp loved the gentleness and hospitality of the Indonesian people. As I do. Philipp was riding a bicycle around the world carrying a golf club and a trombone. He palyed me a bit of Frank Sinatra's My Way at the temple. (Dieng was the site of an historic private meeting in 1975 in which Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam is said to have privately endorsed Indonesian President Soeharto’s plan to take a strong stand against the spread of communism to East Timor.) Later...

The FBI reported that it processed a record 39.7 million firearm background checks in 2020, the most of any year since the law enforcement agency started recording sales data in 1998. Nine out of 10 of the highest weeks for FBI background checks were performed last year. 2020 saw a 34 percent increase over the previous high of 15.7 million in background checks that had been conducted in 2016.

My husband and I are recently retired and looking to relocate to the southeastern area of Tennessee, somewhere near the vicinity of Delano. If anyone would share tips, i.e. locale, realtor options, I would be grateful.

It was almost a decade ago that Iran first unveiled its domestically-produced 14.5mm Shaher anti-material sniper rifle, but since its introduction, a lingering question has been whether it is actually up to the task. The Islamic Republic has faced an arms embargo for years, and it attempted to create its own domestic arms industry. To say the results have been “mixed” at best is a huge understatement. Iranian hardware may at times look good, but goods are always secondary to performance.

Here is a cute video to brighten your day. God gives everyone, even animals an instinct to protect our young. From time to time we find our selves needing to help our children get out of sticky situations. This is a video of a Momma bear trying to get her cub down from a tree. You will notice how the other cub tries to help Momma.

MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack has been appointed to the new Biden-Harris administration as the new Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Pollack has led MassDOT since 2015, at the beginning of Governor Charlie Baker’s first term. Before she joined the state government, Pollack had been Associate Director for Research at the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, and an attorney and director of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF). As a CLF attorney in the 1990s, Pollack helped negotiate a package of significant transit improvements that the state promised to build as mitigation...

OMG! Have you ever seen something like this? Have you ever seen a bright-blue lightning bolt shooting upward from thunderclouds? Such Blue jets are difficult to spot from the ground, since the electrical discharges erupt from the tops of thunderclouds. But what about from space? In a new scientific release, scientists discuss such a transient luminous event that occurred on February 26, 2019 near Nauru, a small island in the central Pacific Ocean. And the images are bombastic: The above artist impression features a lightning in clouds seen from space followed by a blue flash that lasts 10 micro seconds,...

Large-frame handgun? Small? What caliber? Glock? S&W? It's all about balancing 'Comfort vs Lethality,' says longtime Policeman. One of the best parts about being a cop is HR 218. This law allows officers to carry a firearm in practically every locale in the United States. "Carrying on your badge," as it’s referred to, is one of the few perks law enforcement still enjoys. In 2020, the job lost a lot of its appeal, but I still appreciate the fact that I can carry concealed to protect others and myself. In a perfect world, these rights would be afforded to every...

An exceptional atmospheric river rated Category 5 (AR 5) is soaking the Pacific Northwest, bringing flooding rain and strong winds in parts of coastal Oregon and Washington, where up to 8 600 customers were left without power on Tuesday, January 12, 2021. Threats of flooding, mudslides, and avalanches continue into Wednesday morning, January 13, before the moisture flow heads offshore and dissipates. In Oregon, Portland General Electric reported more than 5 000 customers lost electricity on Tuesday night, while 3 600 were without power in Multnomah County during the severe weather's onslaught. The atmospheric river was classified as Category 5...

There’s more than one way to neutralize a threat and these novel, thin, finned steel projectiles can put on a hurt at greater distance than buckshot - Flechettes were first used as small bomblets dropped from airplanes in World War I and World War II. Their use in small arms began in February 1951, when Irwin R. Barr of Aircraft Armaments Inc. came out with the concept of firearms flechettes. Initially, the emphasis was on firing one flechette instead of a standard rifle bullet. This led to the Army’s Special Purpose Individual Weapon (SPIW) program, as the concept was tested....

The revolver or wheel gun is that classic cowboy gun that everyone wants; it’s reliable, powerful, and is just plain cool. Smith & Wesson brings a new modern take on the revolver with the 327 TRR8, a .357 blacked out showstopper designed with SWAT use in mind. Is it the best new revolver in town, or does it lose the wheel gun showdown? Let’s take a closer look in my review of the Smith & Wesson 327 TRR8 just below.

When it comes to this powerful cartridge, 'bullet choice is imperative for the best results.' - I had just obtained my first .300 Winchester Magnum – a cartridge I'd come to absolutely love, and one that I'd end up taking all over the world – and simply could not wait for the first day of deer season. I had the rifle zeroed perfectly, so any shot in the open woods of our hunting property was a dead hold, and it was grouping very well. When opening day finally arrived, the morning had been rather quiet – just a couple does...

A sub-compact .45 almost seems too good to be true, but Glock listened to the market and released the Glock 30, a concealable pistol with a big bang. Many believe the 30 is the top contender for the modern concealed carry weapon (CCW) 45. Does Glock’s design hold up to the beefy .45 ACP? Find out in my review of the Glock 30 below.