Saturday, May 31, 2008

Man fights of assailant burglar ...

... the injury he caused by defending hiss own life from the attacker, armed with a sharp object, allowed local police to arrest the burglar ... by following the blood trail.

Read the full story here.

This is somewhat of a success story.
Somebodies hous was broken into, and he was the victim of a violent criminal, but he fought back which resulted in the capture of a dangerous man. And nobody had to die.

In times of need, any object can become a weapon with which to defend yourself, a tire iron was used in this instance. I suppose the victim was lucky enough to have something useable as an effective weapon in the vicinity, available to him.

Don't rely on having such luck. If you feel at risk of being confronted by a violent criminal, get a decent weapon and become proficient with it.

Friday, May 30, 2008

SUCCESS!

Behold my readers, fans and all of what the world has to offer in people of critic nature.
See and ponder what my skills have wrought, I, your blogger, writer of posts gazed upon by hundreds ... have made a pizza.*

Behold, my home-made pizza:




I love pizza, I love cooking, it should not have come a surprise that I love making pizza.
It was my first ever attempt, didn't use a recipe or anything! Simple wheat flour, water and paprika for the dough, baked in a pan with olive oil. I used chopped and canned tomatoes (no fresh ones available) mixed with a little more flour for the tomato base, and added sliced salami and ham for toppings, as well as some basel and vulgar thyme for seazoning.

After baking the bottom, I placed the entire pan under the oven grill to get a crunchy top, came out like this:



Tasted good, I used a little bit too much flour in the tomato bit, guess I'll use less next time, or use sauce binder.

Next up: bullseye pattern pizzas.

On another note, my grasspop ticked came through today, I will NOT be around at the end of next month!

*Yes, this is in fact a parody of Catuls ode to a dead bird which is itself a snear at the ancient Roman poetry to praise the gods.
A classic education, I has it.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

S.C. woman beaten to death ...

... then left in a house to burn.

How much worse could this have been if she had had an effective weapon to defend her life? They could have used her gun against her you say? Would that not have been better?

Candidate governer buys gun for 13 year old son

One Sarah Steelman bought her son a firearm. Because she loved him, because she wanted to make a point, because it was on sale but didn't match any of HER shoes ... why? I don't know, but it's a bold move in todays politics.

Fortune favors the bold, let's hope the voting public does so as well.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Six children shot in New york

Unpossible? What are the odds that the gun used was not legally available to the law abiding residents of Harlem?

The story

What caught my attention are the parents calling to "take back the streets" by passing out flyers calling to report people with illegal guns, by calling for parents go go through their childrens belongings in hopes of finding an illegal gun.

I can only encourage responsible parenting, but somehow I can't manage to get the idea out of my mind that if it has come to this, your failing in the past may be hard to espunge ... may force you to surrender you "child" to the justice system. Would you? I'm not sure if I could do that ...

Why is it that the focus is on guns? Why not on gangs? Too tricky? Sebestian seems to be doing rather fine, catching more flack from his supposed allies than from the criminals he's going after.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

How to not fight drugs:

So, Japanese customs decided to test the effectiveness of their drug dogs by planting a sizeable amount of hashish in an unknowing passengers suitcase.
After which they lost track of the passenger ...
(clickable green link)

  • NARITA — Customs officials have lost 124 grams of hashish they planted in an unknowing traveler’s luggage to train drug sniffing dogs, the head of Narita Customs said Monday.

    Customs officials are banned from using travelers’ luggage for training practices, but one worker said it was common practice.

    “We want to improve the sniffer dogs’ ability, so we have practiced this way several times in the past,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

    Manpei Tanaka, head of Customs’ Narita branch, apologized for the incident.

    “It’s extremely regrettable that we have invited this sort of situation on ourselves. We will investigate the facts behind the case, provide thorough training and deal strictly with those involved,” Tanaka said.

    Customs said the hash was stored in a metal container stuffed into the pocket of a soft, black suitcase belonging to one of 283 passengers traveling on Cathay Pacific Flight 520 from Hong Kong to Narita, which arrived at 3:31 p.m. on Sunday. The owner of the suitcase is unknown and passengers were not informed that their luggage would be used to train the drug-seeking dogs.

All I can do is read and laugh ... rinse and repeat ...

Monday, May 26, 2008

Potential for a massacre?

I just read this story of how vandals opened up and apparently contaminated a reservoir for drinking water. Above than normal levels of mercury were discovered.
This struck me, because this is a type of attack that could really hurt a large amount of people: attacking one of our basic requirements for life and survival.

Mercury isn't really that much an issue really, barring somebody getting a large amount of mercuric chloride, we shouldn't be seeing may fatalities resulting from an attack on our water supply with mercury.

But there are other dangerous chemicals, and better targets to attack with them.
Cyanide salts can be bought with little problem, somebody was found in posession of ricin not long ago, ... the weapons are out there!
I'm sure you can imagine a myriad of "targets" for a criminal who seeks to poison a large amount of people, I think I best not share my personal ideas ... wouldn't want to give anybody any ideas.

Seriously, once criminals get wise, guns will be the least of our worries.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Current events in the UK

Guess who's back?

So, after catching up with no less than three lab reports, tidying up my desk, finding out that my home coutry will soon be subjected to a visit from Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, KISS, saxon and sabaton and breaking out in a dance of joy at that last one, I decided it was time to get ready to give you all another sundays: "current events in the UK" where I keep you up to date on the situation in a gun banners paradise.

The police have been most active, judging by this sundays edition of the BBC website:
During 61 raids, they seized cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine and speed as well as sevreal weapons including three firearms. (note: not guns, thus should not include replicas or air guns)
Clearly, declaring drugs illegal did not cause them to vanish, did not cause people to give up on their trade, however actions like these are taking them off the streets.

Don't pass silly laws, enforce the laws you do pass! Good work Bobby!

Other law enforcement exploits are the arrest of two people when a waiter was stabbed (seriously injured but stable now), four were arrested for an assault, three were arrested in conection with a shooting. The perp of a woman-on-woman stabbing wa arrested as well ... keep filling those prisons as they fill the hospitals I guess.

There's been one high profile stabbing at a pub, killing one of the actors from the next Harry Potter film, another man was slashed across the face in a pub. A politician was beaten unconscious and robbed, and two teenagers remain in critical condition after being shot.

Guess it's been a slow weekend

Man with gun stops man with cleaver.

Handguns *can* serve to preserve human life, as well as end it, both simultaneously even.

Read the story here.

That policemen had every right to shoot in my opinion. Maybe it had been better if he'd used a tazer or alike, but that doesn't change the fact that in order to protect his life (and probably others lives as well) he should have the right as well as the ability to take the life of an attacker who cannot be reasoned with.

Friday, May 23, 2008

State bans something nobody does

New Hamphshire has banned a process called "resomation ". Not beacause of criminal abuses, not because it is harmfull, but because it is "icky" in their humble opinion.

The process is that of breaking down tissue under high temperature and pressure in a highly basic environment, i.e. it turn a dead body into a liquid. Nobody's doing it, and the state intends to keep it that way, forcing everyone to either burn their deceased, bury them in the ground where the process of liquidifying will take at least a couple of decades, or any other option that is still legal.
(It's been since 1994 that I've seen legislation passed against something on account of it being icky, but I disgress.)

Doesn't this interfere with the right to freedom of religion? Plenty of people worship the "earth mother", what's to keep someone from whishing his/her remains be mixed with the oceans as efficiëntly as possible?
I myself still intend to have my body exsiccated under high vacuum, ground up and used in a pyrotechnic composition. I'll go out with a bang I tell you!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Free gun with purchase of a car

Max Motors in Butler, MO is running a rather special promotion, with the purchase of a new car, you get to choose an additional gift: $250 dollars worth of gas, or a handgun.
He doesn't actually hand out handguns, but writes out a check for you to purchase it yourself, background check to be carried out at the gun store.

The gun in the video looked like a kel tec p32 to me, a quick search on google indicates that a lot of people thought the same. I'm guessing a gun store he was close with made a bulk order, gets it in the right price range, nice and positive margins for all three parties, and regarding the nature of the weapon, also benefits the general public :)

UK effort to curb juvenile crime a failure.

Oi labour ... you know as much I hate to pull an "I told you so" ...

IN YOUR FACE! SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR BLOATED, TAX QUID SQUANDERING FACE!

Juvenile crime was bad before, very bad, right now it's not much worse, but it sure as heck ain't gotten any better!
"We'll just throw some more money at the issue" they sang, but now it's not just me and the likes who are calling those expenditures a waste of taxpayer money, an independant study by King's College in London has shown that the results gotten from the lavish costs, paid for by hardworking citizens are a far cry from their intended goals. Some things got a little better, some things got worse, not a single preset goal has been attained.

Kids are appearing before court quicker, but there's also less time being spent dealing with their social/family problems. Body count seems to be in decline (honestly, that five a day period was an atrocious peak, thank goodness that's over with) but there's an increase in gang activity, specifically amongst girls.

The cost for that quasi-status-quo? six hundred and fifty million pounds sterling, over one and a quarter BILLION dollars American, or a 45% increase. Money that could have gone to a better education system, city beautification, welfare, ... heck, invest it in a couple of decent juvenile prisons if you can't get a grip on crime being committed anyway. Be sure to include a machine shop and a couple of classrooms as well as isolation cells, you know ... things that actually DO work to keep kids from ending up back in their old cell a couple of months after release.

something else that grinds my gears:
  • "The Youth Justice Board said an official independent audit showed the reforms had delivered big improvements."
An official - independent audit? Seriously what?

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Police plant evidence, lie to get a warrant and shoot senior citizen 39 times

... at least they're getting indicted ...

  • Tesler also told the jury in Fulton County Superior Court that he didn't know officer Jason R. Smith had lied to a judge to get the warrant and then planted drugs in Johnston's basement to back up the story.

Redux: When a gang of unidentified thugs violently invaded the house of 92 year old Kathryn Johnston, she fired one shot in their general direction, hitting nobody. The group of thugs responded by shooting her 93 times, killing her.

The thugs were policemen executing a no-knock warrant, based on lies and false evidence, one of the policemen who lied to cover that up has now been convicted of lying to investigators. Read the story here.

Kasparov attacked by flying penis

Once seen for the first time in "second life" flying penisses may now be considered a "real" world way to mock people holding a speech.



other angle



Afterwards, Kasparov thought to himself: how the hell am I gonna top THAT!?

Monday, May 19, 2008

Bajonets, it's not about crime.

It's been said a lot of times: "gun control, is about control".
When you hear people citing large numbers of gunshot victims, most of whom are suicide cases, and then call for magazine capacity restrictions, you should know something is up. I'd like to talk about one specific point of gun control in the past: bajonets.

Bajonet lugs were "restricted" under the federal assault weapons ban (AWB), why was that? I've seen no criminal bajonet attack attack documented, ever. No precedent, no occurence of such event now that the ban has lapsed ... what was the point?

The AWB
was not about reducing crime or disarming gangs, it was about impeding the growth of the "gun community", carried out in an insidious way which was nothing short of brilliant. I know to appreciate
cunning and wit, and the AWB was overflowing with it.

How do you get people to join us on our side of the fence? A surefire way is to take them to the range, it hardly ever fails to demonstrate what guns really are: harmless unless in the hands of the malignant or incompetent.
Taking down this influx of opponents was (in my belief) a key objective of the people who designed the AWB.

To illustrate specifically: bajonet lugs.

Bajonets are a remnant of ages past, they saw a lot of use up to and including the second world war, but are currently falling out of favor. This means that most weapons fit to accept a bajonet ... are old military surrplus. Cheap AK clones, garands, mausers, SKS rifles ... relatively cheap rifles, easy to use and maintain, cheap to feed during the time of milsurp ammo. A thorn in the eye of those who wish not to see the number of recreational shooters grow.
Yes, recreational shooters, people looking for cheap fun ... a cheap first gun.

"Banning" bajonet lugs didn't hurt the criminal element, instead it added a lot of otherwise fun plinkers to the list of "verboten " guns ... forcing people to have them cut off before import, which often raised issues with the zero, with pre-sighted in irons.

It didn't do diddely squat to the crooks, it was simply a burden on the recreative shooter who was facing more resitance when trying to get into the shooting sports.

New editions of the AWB feature a ban specifically against the ruger 10/22 a rifle advised before any other to those who whish to get into recreational target practice.
Why do you think they want that one gone?

They're not coming after the crooks on the corner, they're gunning for the person who would otherwise come after you, sending lead downrange in the aisle you just left ... don't allow it to stay empty.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Current events in Belgium

A poor chemistry student is buried in paperwork :(

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Another church shooting

Steady habits are an assasins bread and butter, his targets habits that is.
Going jogging along the exact same remote route every monday, making the same car trip to a relative every week, or even frequenting a certain church.

When a California man decided to try and kill a former girlfriend of his, he attacked her at church.
No Jeanne Assam this time however, one fatality, two injured, one of which seriously, and the attacker lived.

Said attacker was tackled by the surviving crowd when he was reloading ... a case for the banning of standard capacity firearms, or a case for CCW? Suppose we'd restrict magazine capacity to 10 rounds ... would an average card carrier be able to take action before an attacker has placed ten aimed shots? One armed person in Colorado hesitated for quite some time, rather than opening fire ... too careful? Reluctant? If anything, that armed civillian did not kill any innocents.

Definitely a case for plainclothes security guards ... they'd hardly stand out amongst regular churchgoers and have been proven effective. Generalised right to CCW in church? Well, I seriously doubt that the churchgoing crowd is very prone to violent outbursts ... could be wrong, but I doubt that.

Even in that Colorado megachurch, people excersised enough restraint to not cause any additional casualties when they took their gunman down. It could work! Could it be harmfull? Not likely,

Friday, May 16, 2008

Londons new knife scanners at work:

Newly elected major Johnson witnessed forst hand today how a youth was caught carrying a knife with one of the new metal detectors at a bus station.

I've personally never liked the idea of knife scanners, CCTV systems and the like, but at least they are stopping criminals before they have a chance to hurt someone.
They passed knife control, and they're actually enforcing the law!

I dislike the means, but the effects are good ... this is a tough call, I'm not sure how to feel about it all.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Vintage m16 manual



The full(?) comic can be found here:

Thank you boingboing.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

And now for something completely different:




The hillarity goes on:
Three weeks of Rev. Wright flak ...

Losing with grace ...

Displays of affection still banned.

Once again, students are being punished for hugging one another.
What happened to "hugs, not drugs"?

Why I use the words "once again" you wonder? (and if didn't, now you sure do), I've written about this topic twice before!
First time
Second time.

Let this be the last time.

Freeky weapons.

So, all this talk about -evil black guns that look like assault rifles and may not be painted pink- gets old after a while. So here's for something a bit different: the worlds 20 spookiest weapons, by popular science dot com.

It's got the usual "pain ray", "gay bomb" and "bat bomb pieces", also a bit about the new vomiting-inducing-flashlight for police use and many other "less than lethal" weapons, airliner mounted lasers and frisbee bombs! And you thought only hippies played extreme frisbee?

On another note, Tazer has announced their new adhesive, shocking laminate, an upgrade for riot shields ... err, shocks you upon touch. Ideal for use on police issue riot shields obviously, but also for preventing crowds, rioters or protestors from scaling walls, and guaranteed to usher in a new age of horrible pranks captured on camera for internet broadcasting if ever made available to the general public
(ABC article on the subject)

If you'd like to read a lighter version of all those wacky military experiments, I'd personally reccomend cracked.com's "10 most bizarre military experiments"

excerpt:
  • How do you get a tank-sized hole in a concrete wall? Well, they created two giant, wooden wheels joined by a central drum stuffed with explosives. On each wheel they strapped rockets as a means to propel it forward at speeds of about 60 miles an hour. Life imitates art, and sometimes military life imitates Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
Enjoy.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Current events in the UK

No, there won't be a return of a lot of UK-oriented posts during the week, but there's a coupl of interesting things in the news today:

Scotland yard will be installing metal detectors out on the street and at railroad stations. The police will also be doing stops and searches at an increased rate in hopes of reducing knife crime.
Clearly, past efforts have not been succesfull (enough), knife laws, prison time, amnesty programs ... if not all in vain, then to no great success, innocent civillians are still being stabbed to death, pretty much every day!

And the police aren't faring much better, 60% more policemen are wounded by gunfire in the gun free(ly available) island that is the UK than four years ago.
Story here, thanks to David.

Arms control at fail.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Monday dull

I've been across the web and back, but I didn't find anything worth blogging about ...
Well, nothing gun-related anyways, I've started writing posts for Brass goggles, my first article on the newly built difference engine went up yesterday.

I'm watching the imaginationland triology right now, guess later tonight I'll put on some music and continue reading the cryptonomicon.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Current events in the UK

You weren't worried, were you?
Well, you should be, if you or your family lives in the UK, despite great efforts by the last administration cime is soaring high, people are dying and in denial, so here's a couple of facts:

I would appear that not a week goes by without somebody being found dead in the streets. Again someodies body, a 20 year old man, was found lifeless on the pavement. Cause of death undisclosed.
Another man was found dead after an attack, nature of his injuries undsclosed.
A child was slain in a high profile killing, beaten to death in a bakery shop.

There's been yet another firebombing. Didn't people like me and Oleg Volk warn of this exact thing? A gun is only marginally more effective at killing people than a bottle filled with gasoline, some random junk and a rag ... but guns have been banned while petrol and glass bottles remain available to the general public. What was that about a double standard two posts back?

Another thing "our side" warns off is that criminals under an administration that bans firearms will simply switch to knifes, as illustrated in this story. Not a big deal? Assailants with knives are roughly twice as likely to seriously injure you according to the USDOJ's study "weapon use and violent crime"

Half a million dollars worth of drugs, amphetamines and cocaine, was captured at the border, people aren't raising an eyebrow, especially not if they're dead.

Closing it off for today: the sword wielding gang who stabbed a kid in the heart, killing him has been convicted to spend "life" in prison. Not all of them, just three. A part of me hopes they too get stabbed, with something else than a sword in a place other than their heart.

Might not be around today

I've got a family get-toghether today, so you may have to wait untill tomorrow for this weeks "current events in the uk". It will include the convictions of the sword-killings, which I blogged about before.

Maybe later on the day, you'll hear from me.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Can't we all just get along? Can the FBI and the ATF?

Some people are short tmpered and easely agitated, others simply have trouble working with others It's bad enough when private persons get in eachothers hair and commit monstrous acts, but this strikes me as pretty problematic:

The FBI and ATF were supposed to be merged five years ago, but still the FBI is refusing to ATF acces to certain information. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Their agents have threatened to arrest eachother, found eachother in their nets during sting operations, ...

Why not cooperate? Maybe they're scared of getting accused of willfull errors by an agancy where perjury is protocol? For whathever reason, this is not a good thing! There's officers out there trying to fight crime, I want these offciers to have acces to the best intel available.
I'm not exactly a fan of the patriot act, but information that they have collected through legitimate and fair (in a democratic sense) manner should be available to all people who serve to protect the general public!

Brittish CCTV in action.

Okay, so maybe it didn't cut down on crime, or underage drinking or random vandalism/assaults/gang activity.

BUT! They do allow you to get filmed for free!



Via gizmodo

Friday, May 9, 2008

A universal standard for weapons?

So, me and that "awalk" character* have been arguing this over, over at Marilyns;
Should we treat all weapons the same? He sais that because I "push guns like a dealer pushing crack cocaine", while at the same time supporting arms controls, I am flip flopping.

Arms controls? I don't know for sure what he means, but I suppose he means nuclear arms and the like.
Is there anybody here that honestly thinks we should treat handguns and nukes the exact same way? ... anyone? nobody at all? Oh wait, there's one, "a walk along mingo creek" apparently does, and if you don't, he'll call you a flip-flopper.

Me, I treat different items differently, because, there's not the same, they're different.
A kitchen knife is not the same as handgun, is not the same as a nuke.
Demanding the very same cotrols on all of them would be rediculous!

Can you imagine being required to be 21 years of age before being able to buy some cutlery? Or how about anybody without any felonies/domestic abuse charges (and some other minor things) to be able to purchase a multi-megaton nuclear warhead?

There's a lot of good and effective laws out there that regulate dangerous items. A lot of people use explosives for their profession. they can be licenced to purchase and use these explosives, storing them requires a mandated, safe storage facility. It strikes me as common sense that explosives must be stored differently from your forks, spoons and knifes, which likely rest very close to your stove, do they not?
Would you store explosives in that same spot?
Common sense dictates that each dangerous item should be assessed in a fitting manner. And while one item may be freely available to the general public, others aren't.

Dinner knives are ok, gravity knifes and switchblades? Illegal in many places.
Lye based drain cleaner? No problem! Methamine and acetic anhydride? Heavely controlled due to their use in the production of illicit drugs.

Guns? Ai, there's a rub.
It is very difficult to define what makes one gun dangerous, and other guns very dangerous ... or rather, what guns have high abuse potential/incidence and which ones don't.
Barrel length, muzzle energy, caliber ... none of these are positive factors by which to say: this must be banned.
The USDOJ's study "guns used in crime" lists a series of low-powered, small caliber handguns with tiny magazines as the weapons most often traced by the ATF (in 1995**), evil black "guns that look like assault weapons" aren't even mentioned in the top-10. While a third of the criminals question claims to have had a "military style, semi-automatic rifle in his poseesion at some time, no mention is made of anybody carrying one on a crime scene, or one being used to kill a policeman***.
I hardly think that mandating all guns have "12 or more rounds" magazines and increased power will cut down on firearms fatalities (nor am I inclined to see 10/22's get outlawed)

Dealing with violent crime is an important task that awaits, and while it is not the best way, regulating weapons in an effective way may be part of the solution. This may include new laws and restrictions, this may be the revocal of others. At any rate, the action taken must fit the situation we're dealing with.

In closing: when Walgreens cards you and records your name when buying a meth-precursor, but doesn't even blink when you pick up a bottle of aspirin ... are they flip-flopping, or just using some plain ole common sense?


* I don't know if he's a great troll, or if he acually believes/means the things he sais
**Anybody got recent figures?
***There is a listing for .22 rifles in the list of policemen getting killed, ranking sixth with 4.4% of the fatalities, no thoer mention is made of rifles in that line-up.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Too big for Vegas

A very interesting post by bitter:

If 15% of the NRA's members showed up (lowest estimate) for a convention in Vegas, and ALL of Vegas' hotel rooms were at their disposal, and they stayed with two people per room, not even then would there be enough room for just that 15% ...

911 dispatcher: I didn't do anything wrong.

An update on the girl who dialed 911 and was killed later.

Said dispatcher and the union reps claim that no protocal or policy was breached when the dispatcher failed to call the number back, as there were no audible signs of distress. They say that the only thing that can be heard is intermittent background noise.

Article
Video interview

Anybody know if the 911 call was released?

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Two cops held the men down, while others kicked him

Police officers caught up with a car, to do a traffic stop.
  • A half-dozen police officers kicked and beat three men pulled from a car during a traffic stop as a TV helicopter taped the confrontation.
  • The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground. Both are kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched; one also appears to be struck with a baton.
Wir sind von das Gesetz, wir möchten dir nur hilfen. Stehe ruhich und befürchten sie nicht.

And they wonder why people shoot them ...

Monday, May 5, 2008

Cop shot in unpossible way.

A police officer was shot by someone with an armed robbery conviction.

Maybe I'm imagining this, but that's a felony right? And felons can't own guns! let alone shoot people with them!
Yes, it is possible for criminals to get guns, the current laws do not stop them from getting firearms.
Will more laws stop them, or might actually enforcing a significant amount of the laws that have already been passed do so?

No less than lethal

Tazers are not non-lethal.
One more fatality, a man who was handcuffed.

Aren't tazers supposed to be an alternative for guns? Would you shoot a man who's handcuffed? Should police officers be allowed to? I don't think so.

What they play.

Here's a little website I encountered just now: "what they play".

It is a site oriented at parents with information on contemporary video games. Warning them of extreme content, guiding them to a proper choice for a game for their children, as well as allowing the general public to write their own reviews aimed at informing parents.

I also spotted a nifty piece on how some children intend to circumvent the ratings of some games, and get a restricted game anyway. Answeres ran,ged from older friends or siblings (like alcohol), to a "dealing" doorman. Interesting stuff to say the least.

With the recent GTA:IV bonanza, I tought it might be interesting.
While I personally do not believe there is a link between violent video games and (increased) violent behavior, I will leave such judgement up to you when dealing with your children.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Current events in the UK

It's sunday, you know the drill ...

Recently elected major Johnson has vowed to finally do something about the crime rate that was allowed to flourish under labour .
What crime would that be then?

Starting off with knife crime today; one man was found with multiple stab wounds he'll likely live, another man was stabbed to death. There's been a slash attack, and a robbery by men armed with a machete.
One villain used a knife to attack and rape several women, another man raped a teenage girl in an alley.

Coming after sex crimes and knife attacks this week, the mysteries:
A pair of children was found dead in a car, cause of dead undisclosed/not determined, but police think the situation is suspicious. Following a disturbance involving nigh a dozen of people, one man was found dead and two other in serious condition. The nature of their "condition" has not been discolsed, police are holding their statements concerning the deceased while awaiting his post-mortem examination.

There's been firearm offences too, one man was shot to death in a barber shop, as well as two cases of arson, an apartement building and a school were the target of arsonists.

Police managed to confiscate (over) two million dollars worth of amphetamines, the ones that weren't driving drunk that is. Two peelers are on suspension with full pay after being found driving while intoxicated, twice (the both of them).

All of this from just the sunday edition from the BBC website ... I'll say, Johnson has got his work cut out for him!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Students suspended over "T"

No, not Earl grey or Cleyon, not the sign of technology over religion from one of the greatest novels ever.

A "T" letter, simulated with their hands landed a pair of students a suspension, accused of making a reference to drug culture ... rather than the "Techno city" theme of the prom party they were at when the picture was taken ...

school PSH, not just about guns.

There are better ways to protect our security than giving away our freedoms

Nifty phrase don't you think?

For those of you who do not know, The UK labour party got it's ass properly kicked out of command, the UK conservative party has assumed control of the London majors office, as well as havong secured the highest amount of counsilers, all of this after winning the local election of England and Wales as well!

Does this bid well for the denizens of Oceania?

Well, labours not gone, but no longer will they be able to push their failing policies on their subjects. Violent crime pretty much doubled, firearm offences went up. Trust in the police has been falling, drug use and alcohol abuse by minors is rampant ... now it's time for a new policy.

Where does that title come from? This article by the conservative party.

Let us all hope for change!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Dial 911 and die

Redux:

  1. College student calls 911
  2. Dispatcher does not send help
  3. Dispatcher is flooded with other work and ...
  4. forgets to call back (breech of policy!)
  5. ...
  6. Student is found dead
Read the full story here.

Calling 911 is a good idea, being able to survive until help arrives is a better idea.

Rooftop voter?

Channel 9 news has released a letter, a written threat to the Orlando police departement by a somebody who is upset over the way Orlando law enforcement handeled, or rather, did not handle the incident where officer Fernando Trinidad pushed somebody down a flight of stairs, as seen in this video:



I do not endorse threaths or assasinations. I have faith in the legal system, and I wish that policemen who commit acts of police brutality be threated no different from other criminals. Send them off to maximum security prisons, put them in general population, and release an interview with them a month later to act as a deterrent to other policemen who might be inclined to brutality.

Violence by proxy ... not sure if I can live with that, or have issues with. What was that orwell quote about sleeping peacefully because men are ready to commit violence in your place?

Their "truth" about guns in America

And another one bites the dust, "Gun ownership: a right or a privilege?" announced that their blogging will be discontinued.

  • Well this video will mark the end of my gun-control blogging career. I had a good run, an illustrious run, a memorable run. My commenters will be missed.
He/she is ending his blogrun with a video concerning assault weapons. It contains a certain amount of false information. According to the video, Bush supposedly voted on the AWB renuwal, the AWB banned certain guns and magazines, and it's supposedly a good thing for the count of NON-lethal gun-incidents to go down.

So here's that viddie:



And here's a better viddie.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

95 year old lady in a wheelchair fights off burglar.

That's right, a 95 year old woman ... in a wheelchair ... with a screwdriver!

The burglar was Robert R Horsley, a 45 year old man who's seen his share of court proceedings. He'd broken a window, but as he reached in to unlock the door, the li'l old lady stabbed him in the arm/hand with a screwdriver. So the burglar does the reasonable thing, he waits a couple of seconds and then reaches in again, and the lady stabs him again ...

This went on untill Horsley passed out on the porch due to blood loss, and a sizeable portion of the internet was giggling like abunch of Fench schoolgirls.
She sais she'll have the screwdriver gold-plated now.


I do hope she realizes that any criminal who isn't a complete moron might have just kicked the door in ... that's where plan B should come into play: the use of force adequate to stop the attacker.

Hat tip to the temples "I found it on the web"

Cynical?

  • Having a job in an Atlanta morgue is job security at its best.

This comes from a text written by a person who preforms autopsies on people, often people who hae been shot to death.
It includes a profound explaination on calibers and their relative "effectiveness".

In my opinion: before anything, use a weapon you can and will use when the cards are on the table. Don't use a .40 snubby if you can't handle the kick, don't carry a gun if you don't have it in you to pull the trigger.
In that latter case, carry a stun gun or chemical propellent (if those are legal in your AO)

Hat tip to the real gun guys.