Category: News

  • Trade Restrictions & China’s War Against Pacific Nations

    Trade Restrictions & China’s War Against Pacific Nations

    In 2010, China initiated previous trade restrictions, Rare-earths have grown in importance in a variety of supply ⁠chains; according to Reuters, China’s latest restrictions might cause more damage to Japan’s economy than China’s 2010 efforts to intimidate Japan.

    Corporate notices about critical minerals are signaling trouble ahead for Japanese industries that depend on Chinese rare-earth products. Japan’s pain, however, may not be commensurate with CCP frustration towards Japan’s leadership in the developing coalition of nations prepared to stand with Taiwan, the Philippines and other U.S. allies.

    Symbol of Philippine national Pride.
    The Carabao symbolizes, strength, power, efficiency, perseverance and most of all, hardwork. Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Carabao a national symbol due to its aid in the First Philippine Revolution.

    China reported no exports to Japan of terbium or dysprosium oxide from November through May and minuscule shipments of yttrium oxide since December, cutting off supplies critical to making powerful magnets. Tokyo is working with Australia, the U.S. and other nations to develop alternatives and also has products on which the Chinese economy depends. Japan is investing alongside the U.S. and other allies to secure supplies of ⁠rare-earths and other strategic minerals. Australia and the Philippines are two nations in which such resources have been identified. But developing infrastructure for mining and processing rare-earths will take many years.

    Takaichi signed a framework with U.S. President Donald Trump in October to stockpile critical minerals and rare-earths. Mining of deep-sea deposits remains in the distant future.

    The Group of Seven nations has agreed to do more to coordinate stockpiles, and Japan has rare-earth recycling projects in progress.

    “I assume that a year of export restrictions will create big problems and we’re four to five months into that. Obviously, the government wants to keep the issue under wraps so as not to cause panic and give China the early win.”

    Yuriy Humber, CEO of Tokyo-based Yuri Group, a consultancy.

    China’s economy is hurting. Japan and the U.S. have not even begun to feel the pain. Nevertheless, the global economy is decoupling and the pressure will be on Europe and other industrial nations to restrict trade with China. China will ratchet up its sanctions and continue provoking low-level confrontations such as regular law enforcement patrols East of Taiwan. And China has violated territorial rights within the Exclusive Economic Zones of various sovereign nations. Testing ICBM missiles within Japanese airspace is serious enough to challenge Japan’s national security without provoking a full scale war. Claiming islands in the South China Sea and the Philippines as Chinese territory creates a sense of normalcy to China’s expansive ambitions.

    China’s newest claim is that the Philippine Island of Batanes belongs to China. China has experts claiming that Batanes belongs to China

    Batanes is an island close to Taiwan—and therefore strategically located for launching missiles in defense of Taiwan. Although a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is anticipated to expand into the Philippines, there is no basis in history or international law for the claim that Batanes has historically belonged to Taiwan; nor is there any recognition from the international community that China has any claim to Batanes.

    🇵🇭 Reality Check:
    Batanes has been an integral part of the Philippines for centuries. The Ivatan people are Filipino—not subjects of Beijing. No treaty, map, or internationally recognized legal instrument grants China sovereignty over Batanes.

    China already lost its sweeping maritime claims against the Philippines. The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration tribunal unanimously rejected the legal basis for Chinese claims in the South China Sea. Inventing new claims over Batanes exposes the desperation behind propaganda allegedly spewed by CCP apparatchiks in China’s academic community.

  • Benefits of a Washington Gun Trust or NFA Trust.

    All Gun Trusts are not equal. A Gun Trust or NFA Trust should be designed for all of your firearms and will provide Asset Protection and multi generational ownership for your firearms.

    The Law Firm of Mark Knapp PLLC focuses on NFA Gun Trusts and working with courts to restore clients’ right to possess firearms in Washington. Mr. Knapp has practiced law since 1989 when he graduated from Gonzaga Law School. The firm emphasizes criminal defense work, Constitutional law and advocacy on behalf of clients needing to fight back aggressively against government overreach.

    No CLEO Signature Required to Own NFA Restricted Items.
    The ATF no longer requires that individuals obtain approval from their Chief Law Enforcement Officer (the “CLEO”) as part of the application process to obtain a Title II firearm from another individual or Class 3 dealer. (more…)

  • Deadly Force

    Deadly Force

    The Court of Appeals has held that “the amount of force that is necessary to prevent the infliction of great personal injury may vary with the number of persons the defendant reasonably believes are about to commence striking him with their fists.”

    State v. Irons, 101 Wn. App. 544, 558, 4 P.3d 174 (2000).

    On November 14, 2022, the Whatcom County Superior Court found Kamuran Chabuk not guilty of a 2nd Degree Assault charge nine years after a self-defense shooting in Bellingham. The Law Office of Mark Knapp PLLC obtained an acquittal after a bench trial before Hon. Judge David E. Freeman.

    The case presented some critical factual issues including the presence of multiple aggressors, disparity in the size of the so-called victim, and the potential for a concerted attempt on the part of at least two aggressors to take away the Defendant’s gun and use it against him.

    The aggressor survived the shooting. Nevertheless, the language in WPIC 16.02 provides a template for self-defense cases in which there are multiple aggressors or a group that seems to be acting in concert. The appearance of a threat by one member of the group might justify use of force against other members of the group, depending on the circumstances as they reasonably appeared to the defendant at the time.

    WPIC 16.02 Justifiable Homicide—Defense of Self and Others 

    Multiple assailants. There is no requirement that the defendant’s fear be caused by only the person slain. His self-defense is lawful if based on reasonable fear of imminent harm from either the person slain, or others whom the defendant also reasonably feared. State v. Harris, 122 Wn.App. 547, 90 P.3d 1133 (2004); State v. Irons, 101 Wn.App. 544, 550, 4 P.3d 174 (2000).

    After a jury convicted Kamuran Chabuk of 2nd Degree Assault at his first trial in 2015, the judge ruled that prosecutorial misconduct required a new trial. The State appealed and, in 2019, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division One upheld Judge Ira Uhrig’s decision to take the verdict away from the jury. Whatcom County’s Chief Prosecutor for 44 years, Dave McEachran, had stated at trial that Chabuk had an absolute duty to announce that he had a gun. He also implied that Chabuk provoked the pursuit by videotaping Kiener and his friends and that Chabuk had a duty to retreat.

    In the first trial in 2015, the State made a deal not to call its expert witness to testify about use of lethal force if the defense would agree not to call Bob Smith, retained by the defense to analyze issues such as disparity of force. In the 2022 trial, Smith was instrumental in explaining to the Court why Chabuk had no reasonable alternatives—based on all the circumstances known to him—despite the fact that Kiener might have been unarmed.

    (more…)

  • Terror at Beslan; Our Schools Are Targeted for Terror Attacks

    People need to make the decision to prepare for deadly force now, not when the attack precipitates. By then, it will be too late.”

    Read Israel’s answer to school violence. (more…)

  • Idaho: Attracting Gun and Knife Manufacturers

    The State of Idaho has been continuing to attract firearms related industries. We published the following article a few years back and we are in the process of updating this report with new developments. The biggest question is when and where will a new gun range be developed in North Idaho? There are great opportunities in Kootenai County with a large number of potential users in nearby Spokane, a regional airport and other recreational activities.

    The biggest obstacle, we have been told, are bureaucrats, who have even obstructed local police agencies from constructing a gun range intended to be shared by the five North Idaho Panhandle Counties. Who will step up and provide the political and business leadership to make this a reality for the police and the public?

    (more…)

  • Journalists Need to Explain How the Second Amendment Keeps Everyone More Safe

    “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them.”

    Ephesians 5: 11

    The Philippines is just one of the many countries worldwide where journalists, lawyers and judges are slain and their killers go free. Mexico is also very dangerous for anyone that reports on the cartels and the cartels routinely eliminate large numbers of police officers within any city where the authorities take a stand against cartel domination. Mexico is a nation where almost every firearm in the hands of its own people is illegal.

    Even Mexican police officers are often disarmed when off duty because so many of them have been involved in the murder, rape and slavery perpetrated by the cartels across whole regions. So can the Philippines learn anything from Mexico?

    (more…)

  • Personal Self-Defense is Fundamental to Liberty & Economic Freedom

    The cartels just across the border from El Paso, Texas erupted in violence several years ago. Ciudad Juárez was ground zero in Mexico’s war against drug cartels. The violence spread until citizens in Michoacán organized what became known as Autodefensas or self-defense organizations.

    Dr. José Manuel Mireles, the leader of the self-defense group in the Mexican state of Michoacán, was released from prison on the morning of May 12, 2017, after serving nearly three years in prison. Cartel Land is a documentary film that tells the story of how, under Dr. Mireles, the Autodefensas, recruited and trained fellow citizens to stop the Knights Templar in Tepalcatepec. Starting in February, 2013, the citizens of Tepalcatepec confronted the Knights Templar cartel, which had been terrorizing the population of the Tierra Caliente area of Michoacán. (more…)

  • Liability of Washington School Districts for Playing Politics With Children’s Lives

    Failure to Protect: Potential Liability Factors in School Shootings

    “To hear the ensuing debate about arming teachers and principals and security guards, I just want to go on the record with the board in saying I think that is one of the most irresponsible positions to take in this gun discussion.”

    Federal Way School Superintendent Rob Neu at school board meeting after the Sandy Hook school shootings:

    “I hate this conversation, I hate that it’s a necessary evil. What happened in Newtown…is just horrible. And having young children at home, and sitting and watching the TV, and seeing those photos with the names being called…with your children in the room, looking at the TV, and looking at you, and you’re fighting back the tears. You’re so thankful they’re sitting in that living room with you, and you’re not one of those parents. I can’t imagine what those parents feel like.” (more…)

  • Kyle Odom’s Story

    Odom link to Reptilian Conspiracy theorists?

    An article in the Boise Weekly recently stated that, “Despite the tragedy in Coeur d’Alene and the controversies surrounding Icke, the reptilian conspiracy theory is more mainstream than might be expected. According to a 2013 survey of conspiracy theories by Public Policy Polling, 12.4 million Americans (about 4 percent), believe reptilians or “lizard people” control politics.”

    On March 7, 2016, we attended a prayer vigil for Pastor Tim Remington, The vigil at Candlelight Christian Fellowship in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho ended with a literal candlelight ceremony just outside the front entrance of the church facing Hwy 95. The police identified Kyle Odom, as the shooter. (more…)

  • Gonzaga’s Bulldog Battalion Honors Fallen Hero 1st Lt. Forrest P. Ewens

    On Saturday, April 18, Inland Northwest Action Shooters hosted the 8th annual 1st Lt. Forrest P. Ewens Memorial Match. Forrest Ewens was killed in action on June 16, 2006 during combat operations in Afghanistan. His all-terrain vehicle struck an IED in the Pech River Valley. Sgt. Ian T. Sanchez was also killed.

    1st Lt. Ewens, of Chewelah, Washington was 25 years old and had attended Whitworth University in Spokane. There were men present at the match, including a returned Ranger veteran, who knew him and spoke of how energetic and committed to his country Forrest was. (more…)