I’m thinking about getting a progressive press to make my USPSA reloading go a bit faster. Any recommendations? I’m thinking about waiting for that Frankford Arsenal FX-10 jobber to go on sale before I make a final decision.

Fishbreath’s Story of the Week

• If you stare into the machine-learning ad segmentation market, the machine-learning ad segmentation market stares back – AI-driven market segmentation for advertising doesn’t just learn from the world, it shapes it. It puts you into a bucket (which may not even exist organically). It shows you content relevant to that bucket. You become more a part of that bucket.

Defense

• Iran’s big AOR catches fire, sinks – They just commissioned another one, though.
• Big Army tips Oshkosh for Stryker 30mm cannon – Unmanned turret, with up to six brigades possible. A $942 million deal, if it goes all the way.
• Swap the barrel, and your 7.62 NATO gun can be a 6.8 TVCM one – Wonder if maybe we’re finally going to start seeing non-metallic cases take off? Wonder if they’re cheaper than brass for reloaders.
• Another bit on how McDonnell-Douglas’ culture ruined Boeing – It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s why we put links to the full stories.
• Navy’s tanker drone makes history: refuels a manned aircraft for the first time
• The first B-21 bombers are in production and will soon be ready to test – Ground testing, in advance of flight testing. Also, “B-21 Raider” sounds very 1930s.
• Hyundai’s SoKor baby carrier isn’t so baby anymore – It’s basically HMS QE, but with Made In Republic of Korea stamped on the side. The Drive has more.
• Hyundai also pushing their IFV on Europe – Content warning: Norwegian.
• Drone fries other drones with microwaves
• Hawaii F-22s scramble on FAA request – But nobody’s saying why, and the FAA’s statement is hilariously vague. So I guess it’s aliens again.
• To distract you while we memory-hole the above story, here’s a photo of an F-22 wing tank storage facility – Or maybe it’s a set from a Bond flick. Hard to tell.
• Space Force moves at orbital speeds, builds and launches satellite in four months – That’s pretty good speed, especially as GPS

The ‘Rona

• The lab leak theory is now running in that noted right-wing conspiracist rag, Vanity Fair – Also, Jon Stewart apparently did a bit on it. Mainstreaming what I’ve kind of thought for a year now.
• Half of US enhanced pandemic unemployment benefits may have been paid out fraudulently – Good to know we’re getting value for our tax dollar.

Guns

• The true distance of a typical gunfight – A careful examination of the evidence suggests that it’s… the 3-5 yards that you hear as the received, unsourced wisdom.
• Biden admin’s ATF nominee lost a service weapon after leaving it in a car

Grab Bag

• Baseballers, robbed of steroids, turn to sticky substances – Or would a better headline be, pitchers get back at batters? Either way, rules are being broken, and authorities are turning a blind eye.
• Doctors afraid to use race-based statistics in diagnosis and treatment
• Master and Commander (film) to get a prequel – Well well! That’s good news. Somehow I suspect Russell Crowe may not be playing the title role again, if it’s a prequel.
• FBI builds fake encrypted-comms app to lure in criminals – I’ve always been a little suspicious of honeypots like this as a policing tactic.
• Princeton’s classics department drops Greek, Latin requirements – … isn’t that the whole point?
• Remember Dimming Betelgeuse earlier this year? – Or whenever that was? Turns out it was just dust, and the star isn’t going to obligingly go supernova and give us something cool to look at in the sky.