Rifle Field Positions

Warrior Talk News has started a series on field positions to use when shooting a rifle. The first two--on prone shooting and sitting--are already up. One point they bring up with prone shooting that I thought was interesting, because it contradicts everything I've ever been told or read before, is:

Use the magazine as a monopod. Those that tell you doing so will malfunction the rifle are wrong...or they are using substandard magazines. The goal is as much bone support as possible with the least amount of muscle strength necessary to maintain the position.

Marines and Police Prepare for Mock Zombie Invasion

From Fox News:

Hundreds of military, law enforcement and medical personnel will observe the Hollywood-style production of a zombie attack as part of their emergency response training.

In the scenario, a VIP and his personal detail are trapped in a village, surrounded by zombies when a bomb explodes. The VIP is wounded and his team must move through the town while dodging bullets and shooting back at the invading zombies. At one point, some members of the team are bitten by zombies and must be taken to a field medical facility for decontamination and treatment.

"No one knows what the zombies will do in our scenario, but quite frankly no one knows what a terrorist will do," Barker said. "If a law enforcement officer sees a zombie and says, `Freeze, get your hands in the air!' What's the zombie going to do? He's going to moan at you. If someone on PCP or some other psychotic drug is told that, the truth is he's not going to react to you."

The keynote speaker beforehand will be a retired top spook -- former CIA Director Michael Hayden.

"No doubt when a zombie apocalypse occurs, it's going to be a federal incident, so we're making it happen," Barker said. Since word got out about the exercise, they've had calls from "every whack job in the world" about whether the U.S. government is really preparing for a zombie event.

Called "Zombie Apocalypse," the exercise follows the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's campaign launched last year that urged Americans to get ready for a zombie apocalypse, as part of a catchy, public health message about the importance of emergency preparedness.

The Homeland Security Department jumped on board last month, telling citizens if they're prepared for a zombie attack, they'll be ready for real-life disasters like a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack. A few suggestions were similar to a few of the 33 rules for dealing with zombies popularized in the 2009 movie "Zombieland," which included "always carry a change of underwear" and "when in doubt, know your way out."

Mr. Frosty Man

(H/t Wired Magazine, which has a short article about it).

"Walking Dead" FX Guru Offers Tips on Zombie Costumes

For those of you dressing up as a zombie for Halloween this year, here are some makeup tips:

One of the biggest makeup mistakes Nicotero sees is a lack of color when creating a "dead" look. "When someone is doing a zombie makeup they tend to only use two colors: they use white pale and black around the eyes," explains Nicotero. "It looks a little skull-like but it doesn’t look realistic. When you look at your hand or your arm and you can see all the little blotches of red and yellow and brown – your skin is made up of a variety of different colors."

Shading, he says, is the key. "What we do on the show is to paint the shadows first with something like a dark burgundy and then go over the whole thing with a color we call dead – which is a yellowish, jaundice color. When you are able to use a bunch a different colors it looks more authentic. If you have a bruise there are all those colors around it – purple and red – so I try to get people to look at reality and use colors that exist in nature."

He recommends that you use powdered food coloring instead of liquid food coloring (which can stain) when making fake blood; and use lots of blood and spattering. 

Keep the dirt coming advises Nicotero, and not just for the tattered clothing and ghoulish makeup. "For the zombies on our show the inside of the mouth is all dark because a pink mouth signifies that something is alive. So we use a mixture of food coloring and black cake icing and we swish it around in every zombie mouth before they get a close up."

To give hair a matted, dull look, he recommends putting conditioner into your hair and letting it dry.

"Nowadays you can go to any Halloween store and there is a lot of basic makeup supplies," adds Nicotero. "And one way you can get mummified skin is to use liquid latex. Get Kleenex or cotton and put a little bit of latex on your hand or on your face, then you put the tissue in there and model it into wrinkles. Then you take a hair dryer and dry it. Add another layer of latex and build it up to two or three layers. It is going to look dried out and weathered looking. Then thing to do is rip the tissue paper up and paint the wound red inside so it looks really nasty."

Why the .40 Sucks

Video at The Truth About Guns (TTAG). I've been saying the same thing ever since I first shot a .40, and although I've shot .40 since, I've never changed my opinion.

Back to Basics

Although modern zombies have more in common with the Medieval "reverent," the modern interest in zombies originally derived from voodoo. So, I thought this article on a voodoo "congregation" in New York was interesting:

Photographer Shannon Taggart's lifelong fascination with the mysterious Haitian religion of voodoo has taken her to a basement apartment in Brooklyn, where she came face to face with people being possessed by mysterious spirits.

What resulted from Taggart's experience inside the Flatbush temple run by female priest known as Mambo Rose Marie Pierre is a series of captivating photos called Basement Voodoo, which show the members of her small congregation being taken over by the Loa - powerful spirits that mediate between humans and the voodoo deity, Bondye.

Communicating with the Loa requires elaborate preparations specific to each spirit. While some of the Loa are harmless, others are considered wicked or belligerent.

In order to call on any given spirit, a voodoo practitioner has to draw a symbol associated with that particular Loa in cornmeal on the floor, Time LightBox reported.

What follows next is a series of ritual dances and songs performed to summon the Loa. When the spirit finally possesses the worshiper, the scene turns wild and frenzied. It is commonplace to see people thrashing on the floor, screaming or running around the room in confusion.

Other congregants assist the possessed during the intensely physical experience and stand at the ready in case the worshiper collapses.

Zombie-Themed CPR Ad

I'm not sure about the whole getting-CPR-from-a-zombie.

With Halloween just around the corner, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada has decided the time is right for an hilarious Zombie-themed public service announcement.

Their new video, 'The Undeading,' is a Walking Dead-style take on the lifesaving procedure featuring a horde of zombies performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on a hapless victim.

The video starts with a lone woman in the middle of a urban landscape during a zombie apocalypse.

She manages to kill one zombie, but quickly finds herself surrounded on all sides by a mob of zombies. Suddenly she begins to experience a heart attack, but fortunately one of the zombies is a former doctor and has a plan to save her life.

The PSA cleverly plays off the notion that zombies like only victims who are still alive and breathing. And as it cheekily notes, 'CPR makes you undead.'

Full story with photos and the video here.

Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo

AR15.com has compiled a lot of information and links to information concerning the effectiveness of popular defense rounds--both rifle and handgun. This is a serious must-read.

1950's Flying Saucer Design

Not zombie related, but interesting:

Official alien existence may have never been recorded but their supposed preferred method of transport came close to becoming a reality.

These detailed diagrams and sketches, released last month by the National Archives, show the mind-blowing military initiative, named Project 1794 to build an all-powerful fully-functioning flying saucer to patrol the skies.

In a 1956 memo it is acknowledged that the craft was to reach top speeds of 'between Mach 3 and Mach 4, a ceiling of over 100,000 ft. and a maximum range with allowances of about 1,000 nautical miles'.

The story goes on to indicate that the project was unsuccessful, and eventually scrapped.

More information (including links to documents) here.