Wisconsin Open-Carry Event: ICarry.org a grassroots educational resource dedicated to Illinois and Wisconsin's transition to right-to-carry states - has organized its first Wisconsin open carry event. Responsible firearms owners and volunteers will be collecting non-perishable food items to benefit a local food pantry in Little Chute on Saturday, January 2. The food drive for the needy is part of an ICarry.org ongoing effort to educate the public in Wisconsin that the open carry of pistols by responsible citizens is both lawful and beneficial to society. Wisconsin and Illinois are the only two states in the country lacking a "concealed carry" provision to allow responsible women and men to carry for their own protection and that of their family and loved ones... (Note that the open-carry movement in Wisconsin differs from that in may other states in that the governor who vetoed a couple of bill that would have created a system for licensed concealed carry told voters that, if they wish to carry a firearm, they are free to do so openly. Hence it is a movement, at least in part, to obtain a concealed-carry statute. While Illinois and Wisconsin remain the only two states lacking a statutory provision for private citizens to carry concealed firearms lawfully, that doesn't mean that all of the nine states that have discretionary-issue statutes actually issue permits to any extent or with any uniformity throughout the state.) http://www.ammoland.com/2009/12/23/firearms-open-carry-food-drive/ --- Tangentially Related: A federal judge has told a Nigerian man that he is charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day... A source tells Fox News that the suspect was granted a "multi-entry" visa to the U.S. last year, meaning that he could essentially come and go as he pleases... Abdulmutallab's father reportedly told a Nigerian news outlet that six months ago he alerted the U.S. Embassy to his son's fanatical religious views, according to the New York Post. The father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, allegedly told Nigerian newspaper This Day that he had informed both the U.S. Embassy and the Nigerian security services of his son's activities six months ago, the Post reported... Earlier Saturday, it was revealed the U.S. reportedly had known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties. The official said that the suspect has been on a list that includes people with known or suspected contact or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organization. The intelligence database that Abdulmutallab is part of is described as containing people who have "loose ties or links to extremists," Fox News has learned. Any person in this database is someone who as of yet rises [sic] to threat level of no-fly lists or other more serious screenings... (Yet the Attorney General would deny American citizens the purchase of a firearm on the basis of much flimsier evidence.) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581180,00.html ...Some, but not all, information from TIDE is transferred to the FBI-maintained Terrorist Screening Data Base (TSDB), from which consular, border and airline watch lists are drawn. The Transportation Security Administration has a "no-fly" list of about 4,000 people who are prohibited from boarding any domestic or U.S.-bound aircraft. A separate list of about 14,000 "selectees" require additional scrutiny but are not banned from flying. Abdulmutallab's name never made it past the TIDE database. "A TIDE record on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was created in November 2009," one administration official said, but "there was insufficient information available on the subject at that time to include him in the TSDB or its 'no fly' or 'selectee' lists." ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/25/AR2009122501355_2.html?hpid=topnews On September 11th 2001, the government's (1970s) security procedures all failed, and the only good news of the day came from self-reliant citizens (on Flight 93) using their own wits and a willingness to act. On December 25th 2009, the government's (post-9/11) security procedures all failed, and the only good news came once again from alert individuals... http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzQxZWJhNjhmZTVmNmU2MDMyNmYzNzdlYmE3ZDQ4OTY= The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he's "happy" to be alive. Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how he helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit. Schuringa said he heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker and someone yelling, "Fire! Fire!" But he was only certain something was wrong when he saw smoke. He saw Abdulmutallab's pants open and he was holding a burning object between his legs... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/12/26/2009-12-26_jasper_schuringa_helped_subdue_alleged_terrorist_umar_farouk_abdulmutallab_on_no.html Despite the billions spent since 2001 on intelligence and counterterrorism programs, sophisticated airport scanners and elaborate watch lists, it was something simpler that averted disaster on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit: alert and courageous passengers and crew members... Jasper Schuringa, a Dutch film director seated in the same row as Mr. Abdulmutallab but on the other side of the aircraft, saw what looked like an object on fire in the suspect's lap and "freaked," he told CNN. "Without any hesitation, I just jumped over all the seats," Mr. Schuringa said, in an account that other passengers confirmed."I was thinking, Oh, he's trying to blow up the plane. I was trying to search his body for any explosive. I took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking, and I tried to put out the fire and when I did that I was also restraining the suspect." Mr. Schuringa said he had burned his hands slightly as he grappled with Mr. Abdulmutallab, aided by other passengers among the 289 on board, and began to shout for water. "But then the fire was getting worse, so I grabbed the suspect out of the seat," Mr. Schuringa said. Flight attendants ran up with fire extinguishers, doused the flames and helped Mr. Schuringa walk Mr. Abdulmutallab to first class, where he was stripped, searched and locked in handcuffs... (Yet only a small minority of flight personnel, pilots who remain in the cockpit are allowed to carry firearms.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27plane.html?ref=us There's a new "chill" that has nothing to do with claims of global warming or climate change and everything to do with the failing confidence Americans feel in their own freedoms, according to a new poll. "More Americans this month felt that there was more of a climate of fear over their freedom of association - with more than one in three - 36 percent - saying that they believed Americans had reason to fear punishment or retribution based on who their friends were or who they met with. This is chilling stuff!" said Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies... His survey revealed that the WorldNetDaily Freedom Index took a huge plunge in December, dropping to its lowest ever mark of 46.4 on a 100-point scale. The assessment is based on respondents' answers to a series of monthly questions about how they feel about a basketful of liberties they enjoy as Americans... http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=119894 --- From Force Science Research Center: (While the study discussed focuses on the added deleterious effects of working night shifts in law enforcement, similar effects have been shown for all who work night or rotating shifts, including added risk of hormonally related cancers, such as of the prostate and the breast.) Midnight shift and health risks: New study tells sobering truths Officers who predominately work midnights are at greater risk of developing severe health problems than civilians and other cops, especially if they average more than about 90 minutes of overtime per week and have trouble sleeping. This is established in a new study by an 8-member team of health experts, headed by Dr. John Violanti, a former state trooper and now a research associate professor at the State University of New York-Buffalo. In an ongoing series of groundbreaking investigations, Violanti and cohorts have previously explored shift work and its relationship to suicidal thoughts and to problems of sleep quality. In one earlier study, they found that retired LEOs in general tend to die some 6 years sooner than other retired civic workers. "The newest findings confirm one more way that policing endangers those who serve," says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Research Center, which was not involved in the team's discoveries. "Inescapably, some officers are forced to work undesirable hours, due to the 'round-the-clock nature of law enforcement. Now, knowing their special risks, it becomes all the more important for those on late shifts to rally their personal defenses against the potential assaults on their well-being." Violanti agrees. "This is the first time that working officers have been examined from this particular perspective," he told Force Science News. "We hope these findings create an awareness of the importance of health education for police. Shift work is not going away. Officers need to learn how to adjust to it and come out alive." The researchers' test group consisted of 61 male and 37 female volunteers randomly chosen from an eastern city with more than 900 sworn officers. Blood samples, blood pressure readings, and other pertinent data were collected from them at a medical clinic, and their shift assignments and overtime hours were confirmed from payroll records. Day shift assignments were considered to be those that started between 4 AM and 11:59 AM; afternoon, starting between noon and 7:59 PM; and midnights beginning between 8 PM and 3:59 AM. The officers, who all worked 10-hour shifts, were categorized according to which shift they most often worked during the 5-year period preceding the study. As a measurement of the officers' health risks, the researchers screened them for abdominal obesity (more than a 40.2-in. waistline in men, 34.6 inches in women); elevated triglycerides (above 150); reduced HDL ("good") cholesterol (less than 40 for men, less than 50 for women); glucose intolerance; and hypertension (blood pressure higher than 130/85). A combination of any 3 of these "abnormalities" is said to constitute "metabolic syndrome," a condition that carries an increased risk of such health perils as stroke, cardiovascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes. "In most individual categories, officers in the midnight-shift classification ranked the worst," one of the researchers, Dr. Bryan Vila, a member of the CJ faculty at Washington State University in Spokane, told FSN. For example, 55% on midnights showed "elevated waist circumference," more than double the percentage found in the other 2 shifts. Half had sub-desirable levels of "good" cholesterol, compared to 30% on days and 44% on afternoons, and 25% had high blood pressure, compared to 15% on days and 9% on afternoons. (Figures are rounded here to avoid fractions.) In measurement of triglycerides and glucose intolerance, midnight officers fared slightly better than their afternoon counterparts, but in no category were late-shift officers found to be in better shape than officers working days. Over all, 30% of midnight officers had metabolic syndrome, versus 11% on days and about 15% on afternoon shifts. "This is a very significant finding for a couple of reasons," Vila says. "First of all, studies of the general population have found that about 22% exhibit metabolic syndrome, and that includes sick people, old people, and others who might be expected to have a negative impact on the number. Cops at least have been screened for good overall physical and mental health when they joined the force. "Besides that, officers in our study who worked midnights tended to be younger than those working days by an average of 6 years. You would expect younger officers to be less susceptible to the risk factors for serious diseases." Midnight officers took additional hits when sleep and overtime were factored into the study. The researchers report: "Officers who worked midnight shifts and [averaged] less than 6 hours sleep had a significantly higher mean number of metabolic syndrome components" than those who worked day and afternoon shifts. Indeed, their mean number of risk factors was more than 4 times that of day officers and more than 2 ? times that of those working afternoons. Overtime, too, seems to impact midnight officers more negatively than those on other shifts. Among officers averaging more than 1.7 hours of overtime per week, those working midnights had a "significantly higher" mean number of metabolic syndrome factors--more than 4 times higher than day officers and more than twice the number for afternoon shifters. The study notes in brief: "[S]horter sleep duration and more overtime combined with midnight shift work may be important contributors to the metabolic syndrome." The researchers did not attempt to document the specific causes of the link between midnights and health dangers, but Violanti and Vila offer observations about a couple of likely suspects: eating habits and sleep patterns. On late shifts, officers may feel more dependent on restaurants and vending machines that "point them more toward candy, Cokes, coffee, donuts, and fast foods than toward nutritious meals," Vila explains. In short, Violanti notes, "Diet on the night shift basically stinks." Plus, he says, "Endocrine function and body balance are disturbed by circadian [daily rhythm] disruption. Working nights, especially on a job that's highly stressful, can cause significant wear and tear on the body." "Sleep times for officers on midnights tend to be outside the normal range," Vila explains, "so they customarily get not only less sleep but sleep of lesser quality." This produces fatigue and sets up a vicious cycle. Insufficient sleep causes hormonal changes that, in effect, make the body crave quick energy bursts. "This triggers an appetite for the kind of foods that result in weight gain, bad cholesterol, and strain on the organs that help you metabolize sugars. In turn, being overweight makes you more susceptible to sleep apnea and other problems that interfere with restorative sleep." If midnight officers want assurance of nutritious meals while working, they can pack their own, making sure what they eat is low in processed sugar and high in complex carbohydrates, he suggests. "You'll sleep better," he says, "if you end vigorous physical activity 2 or more hours before you want to sleep. Minimize your caffeine consumption the last 4 hours of your shift, because it takes about 6 hours to diminish caffeine in the blood to a level where it won't interfere with sleep. And don't eat a big meal just before bedtime." Darkening the room when you have to sleep during daylight hours also helps. "Make an agreement with your family that sleep for you is an important priority," Violanti suggests, so they can help minimize disturbances. If you have persistent sleep problems, arrange to be screened for sleep disorders. "More than 40% of cops have serious sleep disorders, and these can usually be treated," Vila says. On the website of the nonprofit National Sleep Foundation [www.sleepfoundation.org] you can locate a sleep professional near you, as well as access helpful tips on better sleeping, books on the subject, and sleep aids. Lewinski notes that the National Institutes of Health recommend the following for preventing or managing metabolic syndrome: . Eating a diet low in fat, with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products . Getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise almost every day . Losing weight so that your body mass index is less than 25 . Controlling blood pressure and blood sugar . Not smoking . Including fish, preferably oily fish, in your diet at least twice a week. Violanti would like to see law enforcement agencies provide training on diet and sleep, but he points out that "in the end, we are responsible for our own health. We can't depend on an organization to take care of us. Taking our own simple steps to improve lifestyle--eating better, sleeping better, exercising--is the best way to deal with this problem." With the new metabolic study serving as a baseline, Violanti and his team are planning longer-term monitoring of 460 officers to see if continued exposure to midnight service makes results worse and, hopefully, to pinpoint specific causes of related health problems. Meanwhile, Vila says, more than a dozen research papers are in development as a part of Violanti's broad-based studies. "We are trying to look one piece at a time at why police work is such an unhealthy profession and what can be done about that." As more becomes known, Force Science News will keep you updated. Meanwhile, our strategic partner PoliceOne.com this week posted a news article you may find interesting, concerning a Maryland officer who is suing his county for compensation for heart problems that he claims arose because of his police service. According to this report, "Maryland law presumes that if public safety officials develop heart diseases, then it was their jobs that caused it and the officials should be eligible for worker's compensation claims, regardless of other possible contributing factors like obesity, smoking habits, and family medical history." ================ (c) 2009: Force Science Research Center, www.forcescience.org. Reprints allowed by request. For reprint clearance, please e-mail: info@forcesciencenews.com. FORCE SCIENCE is a registered trademark of The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit organization based at Minnesota State University, Mankato. ================ --- From John Farnam: 21 Dec 09 Red Dots: At our urban Rifle Courses, I customarily have each student shoot several rounds from every other student's rifle, so that they can personally sample various triggers and sighting systems. One student commented: "Red-dot, non-magnifying, optical sights (particularly the Aimpoint T1) changes the game much more than I ever imagined! With 'normal' shooting positions, their value is seldom truly realized. It is in the roll-over-prone position, shooting support-side shoulder, around cover, in low light, when you're out of breath, that they really shine! Improvised positions, particularly around cover and obstacles, do not lend themselves well to tediously aligning front and rear sights. Being able to simply '(1) put the thing (2) on the thing, and (3) pull the thing' magnificently simplifies achieving consistent hits." My student puts is much better than I do! Yes, the advantage of low-profile, forward-mounted, non-magnifying optics (on LaRue Quick-release mounts) is too significant to ignore. Iron-sight skills are still critical, of course, and I try to give every student the opportunity to quickly ditch their optic and default to them. But, I now have a T1 on most of my serious rifles, as I want to take full advantage of whatever cover and concealment the Almighty sees fit to give me! Victory goes to the one who makes the next-to-the-last mistake! /John (Like most tools, these red-dot sights seem to offer advantages at a price. I am eagerly awaiting the results of the rumored military trials of the double-aperture HexSite system on M4's. The apparent advantages of the HexSite appear to be no need for batteries, no need to adjust intensity when moving between bright- and dim-light conditions and, at longer ranges, no dot to obscure the target. Still, I suppose that there will still be those for whom the red dot is more attractive. That's the advantage of not having your firearm issued - you can select it and equip as you choose, except as limited by law and price.) 23 Dec 09 When "enough is enough!" Susan Shabangu is a Deputy to the Security Minister in South Africa. I've never met her personally, but her boss lectured a group of LE students I trained in Pretoria a year and a half ago. His sentiments were similar, and he didn't mince words either! Susan was recently quoted at a mass meeting of LEOs, for all to hear: "You must kill the bastards when they threaten you or your community" "You must not worry about the regulations. That is my responsibility. Your responsibility is to serve and protect." "I want no warning shots. You have one shot, and it must be a kill-shot." "I won't tolerate pathetic excuses for you not being able to deal with violent crime. You've been issued guns. Now use them!" Ms Shabangu is publically articulating the frustration of the general population. Everyone is fed up with unchecked, criminal violence and mealy-mouthed, excuse-making government officials. It should never get so bad as to necessitate a deputy minister having to talk so abruptly, here nor there! There has been much reaction to her statements, as you might imagine, but no one has accused her of being mealy-mouthed! God bless her for having the personal courage to say what has to be said. Oh, that we would even occasionally hear such plain English from politicians over here! /John (Refreshing as it is to hear this voice in South Africa, it is still the individual officer who has to worry about having his actions judged in court.) -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. The tactics and skills to use a firearm in self-defense don't come naturally with the right to keep and bear arms. http://www.spw-duf.info .