Tag Archives: war

Musings on Irish independence

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Oleg Volk

Ireland lost 49,000 dead in WW1. Compared to that, combined revolution and civil war casualties in the 4-6 thousand range seem like a small price to pay for staying out of WW2 on either side. While Ireland seems no better … Continue reading →

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Fighting doesn’t guarantee either victory or survival.

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Oleg Volk

But inability to fight pretty much guarantees extinction or subjugation. The same applies to other ethnic, religious, and behavioural minorities.  

Posted in rifle, rkba, self-defense, training, weapon | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Waiting patiently

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Oleg Volk

Czech vz24 Mauser, 8mm.

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“Get weapons of war off the streets!”

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Oleg Volk

The title is a typical rallying cry of anti-freedom politicians. We know they are lying. But let’s pretend, just for a moment, that they aren’t. If they really mean to restrict only weapons of war, then we are looking at one of two … Continue reading →

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Alternative history

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Oleg Volk

Looking at alt.history genre, I wonder if anyone has ever done the 1973 Arab-Israeli War as the bifurcation point. It is plausible that Israel would have gone down fighting, as the reserves of territory were quite thin at one point. Slightly … Continue reading →

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Film review: Intimate Enemies

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Intimate Enemies, 2007 French film about the war in Algiers. Available on Netflix. Plot 8 Acting 8 Visuals 9 Props – 9 Audio effects – 10 Overall — recommended. As war movies go, this one is fairly nuanced. The terrain … Continue reading →

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Film reviews

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Our Mothers, Our Fathers (Generation War) — a German three-part movie about five friends living through 1939-1945. Acting – 9/10, including strong performances by secondary characters Visuals – 9/10, good sense of time and place Props and authenticity – 8/10, just … Continue reading →

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National defense and 6th grade math

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Oleg Volk

(Image from http://www.festungguernsey.supanet.com/about_us.htm) Imagine an observer with a stereoscopic rangefinder and a telephone, camouflaged on a seashore. The observer is 3km ahead of a cannon located further inland for concealment. The bearing is between the cannon and the observer is, for … Continue reading →

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“For among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised” ~Machiavelli

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Oleg Volk
Posted in rkba, self-defense, weapon | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Film reviews

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Kenau (2014), about an apocryphal hero of the real siege of Haarlem in 1572-73. Excellent visuals, good actors but spotty screenplay which comes across as genuine some of the time and as a farce at intervals. Just a slight tinge of … Continue reading →

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Bullets and bacon.

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Every so often, some genius of strategy suggests using bullets dipped in pig fat to scare Islamic opponents. If history is any indication, deliberate or even accidental insensitivity to the religious views of others is a recipe for trouble. For … Continue reading →

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Unprovoked French aggression of 1812?

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Oleg Volk

Living in the USSR, I was brought up to view the Great Patriotic War of 1812 as a clear-cut case of French perfidy. Evil Imperial French and their dozen allies invaded Russia…ok, invaded the part of Poland previously occupied by … Continue reading →

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Final protective fire.

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Oleg Volk

This rifle is not shown with a bipod because of its dual long/short range role. Sandbags or other improvised supports would keep the shooter less visible than a bipod, and the forend thermal wrap combined with a VFG would keep … Continue reading →

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“Only accurate rifles are interesting”

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Oleg Volk
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Dragon Day

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Oleg Volk

After the newest Red Dawn ended up even less plausible than the original, independent Dragon Day is in production. Looks like a better concept and likely better executed. While the foreign invasion may be far-fetched at this point, many of … Continue reading →

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Home invader repellent.

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Oleg Volk
Posted in ammunition, rifle, rkba, self-defense, weapon | Tagged , , , , , | 32 Comments

Language as a weapon.

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Oleg Volk

Looking at the current conflicts, it seems that counties with common languages enjoy a major PR advantage in wartime. Countries like Albania and Georgia have to resort to other languages (English and Russian, respectively) to get their version of the … Continue reading →

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Movie review: The Flowers of War

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Oleg Volk

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1410063 Storyline: 5/5 Acting: 5/5 — main and secondary characters all convincing SFX: 4/5 — impressive but a bit unrealistic at times Music: not a notable factor The film gets a lot of story-telling in a two and a quarter … Continue reading →

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The enemy is here. Roadblocks in Tennessee.

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Looks like our domestic Gestapo-wannabes have arrived. Not sure how they can be dislodged short of a war. This is most disappointing, for America and for Tennessee in particular. I suspect the total push-back of the whole state population of … Continue reading →

Posted in civil rights, rkba, self-defense | Tagged , , , , , | 52 Comments