That's the thing about Ragnarok - it's so damn hard to predict.

Remembering the 1986 FBI Shootout

The 1986 shootout was a gun battle in the Miami area between 8 FBI agents and two bank robbery suspects that they were attempting to arrest. It lasted less than five minutes but resulted in the death of two FBI agents and nearly all the rest of the agents were seriously injured before the suspects were killed.

Since then it has become well-known in the shooting community and is still widely studied by law enforcement. Analysis of the fight led to the FBI's switch to the 10mm round (and later the .40 S&W) as well as changes in FBI and police tactics.

The 1986 FBI Miami shootout was a gun battle that occurred on April 11, 1986 in an unincorporated region of Dade County in south Florida (renamed Miami-Dade on November 13, 1997) between eight FBI agents and two serial bank robbers. During the firefight, FBI Special Agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed, while five other agents were wounded. The two robbery suspects, William Russell Matix and Michael Lee Platt, were also killed.

The incident is infamous in FBI history and is well-studied in law enforcement circles. Despite outnumbering the suspects 4 to 1, the agents found themselves pinned down by rifle fire and unable to respond effectively. Although both Matix and Platt were hit multiple times during the firefight, Platt fought on and continued to injure and kill agents. This incident led to the introduction of more powerful handguns in the FBI and many police departments around the United States.

The FBI agents were on a rolling stakeout based on a hunch that the suspects would return for another bank holdup and still be driving a black Monte Carlo seen at a previous robbery. When the car was spotted on the morning of April 11 the agents attempted to make a felony traffic stop.

But what they didn't know was that the two robbers, Platt and Matix, were well armed with a shotgun, Mini-14, multiple pistols, had spent considerable time training with them, and that both were ex-military (Platt had been an Army Ranger and Matix was a former Army MP). The suspects immediately started shooting at the agents and despite being shot multiple times (Platt 12 times, Matix 6 times) including some mortal wounds, they kept firing and nearly wiped out the agents. Only the actions of Agent Mireles stopped the attack and saved the other agents.

Since then there has been wide-spread analysis of the gun fight including tactical failures on the part of the agents as well as deficiencies in the caliber and model of the guns they used. Here is an FBI internal training video that has a recreation of the incident as well interviews in which the agents describe their actions during the shootout, what they experienced as well lessons learned from the incident. Agent Mireles' concluding statement is something that everyone who might ever be in a life-or-death situation should take to heart.

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• The Imaginary Era Of Austerity Comes To An End
  
• Americans Rising Up Against Government
  
• Steyn: Rigor Mortis
  
• Ukraine: Arrest Warrant for President Yanukovych
  
• Why A New Ukraine Is The Kremlin's Worst Nightmare
  
• Climate Clowns Try To Silence Krauthammer
  
• Obamacare's Small-Business Market Exchange Is A Failure
  
• The Most Brutal Anti-Obamacare Ad Yet
  
• Dem Target Of That Ad Threatens TV Stations Licenses Over Airing It
  
• Piers Morgan Show Coming To An End
  
• Obama's Stimulus, Five Years Of Keynesian Fairy Dust
  
• The Relationship Between The Citizenry And Police Continues To Deteriorate
  
• Barack Obama's Budget: Who Does It Hurt
  
• Girl Scout Sells Cookies Outside Of A Medical Marijuana Dispensary
  
• Polar Vortex To Hit The Midwest And Northeast Again
  
• The Medieval, And Highly Effective, Tactics Of The Ukrainian Protestors
  

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For all of your non-space needs, here's an open thread, brought to you by the wonder of Rob Ford:

While you were celebrating, Rob Ford hurt his groin running into a hydrant #robford #gold @nationalpost pic.twitter.com/W46lX60GsS

— Darren Calabrese (@DBCalabrese) February 23, 2014

more...

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We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic.

Notice I didn't say crock-pot meals. That's because I don't have one, and have been blissfully unaware of their supposed utility for most of my life. But a heavy Dutch oven or similarly constructed pot will allow you to make all sorts of great stuff without having to attend to multiple pots and pans, and time everything for that magical (and nonexistent) point on the space/time continuum when everything is ready at the same moment. more...

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“The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary
common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their President.”

From (as far as I can tell): theabundantgift.blogspot.com

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Happy 5.56mm day

Retired Liberal Wishcasts A New Constitution

I presume John Paul Stevens doesn't see a need to revisit lifetime judicial appointments, but he'd like to tweak the 2nd Amendment a bit. His version would read:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed.

I'm sure the left is oohing and ahhing over this, but Stevens' suggestion is pretty funny when you bump it up against the existing U.S. code.

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

Looks like John Paul Stevens wants to disarm women who aren't in the National Guard, transgendered folk and oldsters to me. Teh H8R!!

Now about that lifetime appointment ...

More really stupid people: How “Crazy Eddy” Markey Intends to Destroy the Entire U.S. Handgun Market, The Carrie Nation of the Gun Prohibitionist Movement lies to America. Again. Still.

Detective that claimed “we don’t have time for this” before killing 90-pound teen is indicted for voluntary manslaughter

These judge+jury+executioner incidents seem to be happening more often these days, but the cops always seem to get away with little or no punishment. There appears to be at least a slim chance for justice in this case.

Related: Man Charged With Killing Burleson County Deputy No Billed by Grand Jury

Gun Of The Week

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[We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Open Thread down page, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic. Enjoy!]

Welcome again to the Spaced-Out Challenge! Whether you have a question about equipment, a new astronomical discovery you want to expand on, or just want to kick back and enjoy the cosmos above, come one come all on our weekly astronomical journey.

March is my favorite month of the year. Beyond having a birthday and St. Patrick's Day back-to-back, it marks a time of great transition, as winter yields to spring. It also presents the only opportunity to see the whole year's night sky in a single evening, and 2014 is extra special: the weekend of March 1st-2nd and the 29th-30th feature new moons! My friends to the North should stick with the month's end, but those of you blessed to live at my latitude (35N) can pick either for the greatest scavenger hunt in the sky: the Messier Marathon!

This week's edition is very, very, very, very, very big, as such the margins have been slightly tweaked for moar oohs and embiggenments. From general maps to custom planning guides, fabulous astrosketches and photography to our comprehensive fifty-state dark sky directory, everything you need to tackle the marathon is right here. So set your eyes to the sky, and let's go! more...

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This thread sponsored by weird travel gadgets:

Good day, traveling morons! Time for another thread to chat about travel and leisure.

April may be the cruelest month, but there’s little doubt that for those of us in colder climes, February is a close second. Holidays are behind us, football is long over, it’s really too cold to do much in our yards, and the kids are still in school so the parents among us are not going much of anywhere any time soon. As an added joy, the warm days that we DO get usually result in snow melt and the invariable “mud season.” (I’ve completely given up on keeping my floors clean thanks to the pitter-patter of eight collie feet!)

So today I thought IÂ’d cover some leisure activities that we CAN do during these slow months at the end of winter and beginning of Spring. This will be short because, frankly, itÂ’s a beautiful sunny day here at the Wasatch Front, so the mister and I are headed out for a drive in a little while.
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BUMPED due to rain delay

Bring your race talk here, y'all.

The Chase is on!

The race is airing on the Fox network at 1:00 EST but coverage began at noon. If your cable provider is an authorized provider, you can also live-stream it via Fox Sports Go

I don't really have a dog in the fight but have become more interested this year and will tune in today.

Is Jimmy Johnson still considered a jackass?

Will Dale Jr. ever live up to legacy his dad left behind?

Are there any rookies you're keeping an eye on?

Speaking of Dillon, ESPN has penned an open letter.

Best of luck to them all and may they safe out there on the oval.

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Sadly, it doesn't look like any of these Olympic sports will provide Dave in Texas with pointy elbows to show you later.

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