Massad Ayoob's Blog, page 76

A SAD READ

I recently read “I Am, I Am, I Am” by Maggie O’Farrell.  What caught my eye was the subtitle, “Seventeen Brushes With Death.”  It’s a straight autobiography by a strong novelist born in Ireland in 1972, who grew up in … Read more

THE VIEW FROM THE DOORWAY: BOTH SIDES, PART II

In the last two entries in this blog, we discussed the controversial case of a female cop off-duty who believed she had come home, found an intruder inside her apartment, and wound up fatally shooting the legitimate resident because she … Read more

THE VIEW FROM THE DOORWAY: BOTH SIDES, PART I

The double-edged tragedy in Dallas, discussed here in my last post has triggered a common phenomenon seen nationwide, and even here in commentary: the natural human tendency to be tribal focuses sympathy on whichever party the onlooker most identifies with. Having … Read more

LEARNING FROM A TRAGEDY IN DALLAS

Another controversial police shooting is in the news, this one particularly heart-breaking. A synopsis of events and some legal analysis is found here. This incident came up in a private forum to which I belong.  Some emotion was evident.  A … Read more

A BLAST FROM THE PAST, AS IT WERE

A reader in Georgia was cleaning out his old gun magazines, and was kind enough to send me a photocopy of an article titled “Bowl ‘Em Over,” about the 1979 Second Chance Combat Shoot, from the November ’79 issue of … Read more

WELL SAID, MS. SWEARER

Regular reader Ted Fries sent along this commentary on the recent atrocity in Jacksonville, Florida. Ms. Amy Swearer is a bright young voice in the gun owners’ civil rights movement.  I haven’t heard the reality of this matter explained better. … Read more

SPANNING THE CENTURIES

Last month was “retro month” for me, carrying and teaching with revolvers that harken back to the late Nineteenth Century.  The Smith & Wesson Model 66 .357 and Model 64 .38 Special I swapped between harken back to S&W’s Hand … Read more

PER READER REQUEST

In my blog entry immediately prior to this one, the reader request came up for a link to the article I did for Backwoods Home on body language and threat recognition.  It is here. You are invited to read, and … Read more

TWO EXCELLENT BOOKS

I recently read two books I’d like to share with you.  When I first saw Rory Miller’s work, I thought “Here’s a guy who has been there, done that, and makes sense.” That impression was reinforced later when I met … Read more

GOING RETRO AGAIN

No, the title above does not come from the Department of Redundancy Department.  It comes from the fact that every now and then, the old guy here goes back into the past with old technology.  Each time I do that, … Read more