Google Voice Rocks

OK I just received an invitation to Google Voice and set it up. I’ve only played with it for a few seconds but it’s fucking awesome. For those of you who haven’t heard of it Google Voice is a service (invitation only at the moment sadly) where you receive a phone number from Google (you can select the number you want from a desired area code). You then enter in your phone numbers. When somebody dials your Google Voice number their service attempts to contact you by ringing all of your phones sequentially.

But the coolest part so far is if you can’t be contacted the caller is prompted to leave a voice mail. Google Voice then transcribes the voice mail to text and does two things. First is sends you an e-mail containing the transcribed message and it sends you a text message with the first part of the transcribed message. This means you don’t have to listen to the voice mail and honestly the transcription service is pretty bloody good.

It also allows you to send free text messages to people. Granted that isn’t much of a win for me since I have unlimited text messages on my plan, but still cool none the less.

Google once again surprises me with their cool services that don’t end up costing no money. I guess they do get free advertising from me via this post in the process to boot but really I don’t reach enough people for them to care.

I Guess She Needs to Run Farther

From John C. Dvorak’s blog we get a story that starts like this:

During the conversation the frail widow, who fled to Britain from Communist East Germany

Sadly it appears as though she hasn’t ran far enough to escape a police state:

A disabled pensioner was hauled before the courts and charged with assault after she prodded a teenage ‘hoodie’ in the chest with her finger.

Renate Bowling, 71, confronted the 17-year-old youth in the street after stones were thrown at her home.

Yes some punks threw stones at her house and she confronted them because she’s old and therefore is from a generation that has a spinal cord. During the confrontation she pokes one of the hooks in the chest with her finger and ,being this is Britain, is brought up on assault charges.

Is there anything that is legal in that police state across the pond?

Report from the Gun Show

As I posted earlier there was a gun show on Saturday and Sunday. I decided to head there on Saturday morning with one of my shooting buddies and one of my co-workers. First I’m going to talk about my co-worker. He has never been to a gun show and his exposure to firearms, from my understanding, is limited to shotguns used for hunting. He wants to eventually get a permit to carry but has no experience with handguns.

Well I figured a gun show would be a great place to bring him up to speed on the different types of handguns. We showed him semi-automatic pistols and revolvers. We explained the differences in shooting a very tiny handgun vs. shooting a larger handgun. We explained the differences between calibers. Heck we tried to cover everything we could. I feel accomplished as he seemed to learn quite a bit and hopefully the experience motivated him to get his permit to purchase (required in Minnesota for purchasing pistols and military pattern semi-automatic rifles).

But the best part was showing him the lies the general media says about gun shows. Of course since he never attended a gun show before he had no experience but believed what CNN, MSNB, CBS, etc. said. My co-worker believed it was a place where you could walk up to any table, pay cash for a gun, and walk out without performing the background check and paperwork. He was surprised when I picked up a Glock 30 and showed him the process for purchasing a firearm. I had to fill out the ATF form, present my driver’s license and permit to carry, and of course go the NICS check performed. It was an eye opener for him and I firmly believe everybody who thinks gun shows are a major source of illegal arms should attend a show and watch the process people go through to get guns.

As for the shot itself there are some things to note. First of all the prices of AR-15s and AK-47s are coming down. They aren’t at the same point they were before the Obamessiah was elected but are getting closer. Also I’d like to note the huge number of both types of rifles at the show, the shortage is officially over here in Minnesota. The same can be said of ammunition which has slowly been returning. Most of the vendors had plenty of ammunition in stock for all the popular calibers. The only thing that was in short supply were primers which are slowly trickling back in.

There were some good deals to be had and some horrible ones. It was obvious once again that if you attend a gun show check every table before you buy anything (unless that thing is rare enough where you are legitimately worried somebody else will buy it and nobody else will probably have it). On one side of the gun show the Glock 30 I picked up was going for $100.00 more than where I got it from. They were both brand new and came only with the standard load out (two magazines).

There weren’t as many people walking around selling personal guns this time. Likewise the number of people in attendance was quite a drop from the earlier gun show held at the same location around the beginning of the year.

My friend tried to sell his AK in .223 but was unable to do so. If anybody out there is looking for a like new AK rifle that shoots .223, has a milled receiver, and comes with eight magazines let me know and I’ll put you in contact with him.

How Defense Stories Should be Reported

You know it saddens me that we have to go to India to find a proper response to self defense situations. Snowflakes in Hell has a good story posted about a girl in India who defender her family:

Militants often demand food and lodging in nearby villages.

When they forced their way into Miss Kausar’s home, her father Noor Mohammad refused their demands and was attacked.

His daughter was hiding under a bed when she heard him crying as the gunmen thrashed him with sticks. According to police, she ran towards her father’s attacker and struck him with an axe. As he collapsed, she snatched his AK47 and shot him dead.

Good work by his daughter. Also note that this is a story involving an AK-47 that was actually an AK-47. Any how as stated on Snowflakes in Hell if this story happened here the police would have to give a speech about how what the man’s daughter did was the incorrect action to take in such a situation. You know the usual speech police give when a person takes their own defense as a personal responsibility. Here is how Indian police respond:

Police have hailed the woman’s bravery.

They said she would be nominated for the president’s gallantry award.

She may also receive a £4,000 reward if, as police believe, the dead terrorist is confirmed as Uzafa Shah, a wanted Pakistani LeT commander who had been active in the area for the past four years.

That’s right reward the person who saved their family, don’t berate their actions. I wish the police in our country responded in same.

Brady Campaign Sticking Fingers in Ears and Saying “I Can’t Hear You” Loudly

Days of Our Trailers lets us know the Brady Bunch are in denial. Super Douche, Paul Helmke, has reportedly stuck his fingers in his hears and began screaming “I can’t hear you” as loudly as possible. Although highly annoying to both of his fellows at the Brady Bunch Headquarters they were able to type up a press release:

“The Chicago case is unlikely to have much practical impact on most gun laws regardless of how the Court rules. Even if the Court were to hold the Second Amendment applicable to states and localities, such a ruling is unlikely to change the crucial holding by the Supreme Court in Heller that a wide range of reasonable gun laws are presumptively constitutional, and that the Second Amendment right is narrowly limited to guns in the home for self-defense. Since the Heller decision, the gun lobby and criminals have brought at least 170 challenges to gun laws or to block criminal gun prosecutions. With only a handful of exceptions, those challenges have failed.”

After reading this and believing it Paul Helmke reportedly stopped yelling but still left his fingers in his ears. Both his staff reportedly said they prefer him like this because it prevents him from throwing his feces around the office.

A Reminder Owning a Gun isn’t Enough for Self Defense

After something bad happens to a person or somebody they know they often respond by going out and purchasing a gun. I’ve talked about this before but simply owning a gun isn’t going to keep you save. Well Robb Allen heard of a situation and reminds us:

Getting a shotgun isn’t going to keep you safe. It’s not a magical talisman that wards off evil spirits. The only thing it does is help give you the advantage you need to survive a fight.

Before one thinks about getting any firearm for home defense, they should ask themselves a few questions

Am I willing to use lethal force and accept the consequences of doing so?
Will I train with the firearm so that in a time of crisis, I can use it accurately and safely?
Can I secure the weapons against unauthorized use such as children?

All of these points are important. Head over to his blog and read what he posted.

Why Actions are Stronger than Words

A big hat tip goes to Says Uncle for this story. Cameron Aulner proved what being a man of action means:

Westminster Police confirm that on September 19th, a man grabbed and molested a little girl. Witnesses say he picked her up and was headed for the door.

Bystanders started yelling for help. But no one stopped the suspect, 34-year-old Kevin Salyers. Until something even more unusual happened.

A man working at the Comcast table at the front of the store tackled the suspect. Even more amazing, the Comcast employee, 22-year-old Cameron Aulner was in a wheelchair.

Yup while perfectly capable bystanders started yelling for help Mr. Aulner, whom lost the use of his legs, decided to take action. Glad to see there are still people out there willing to act while others stand by and wait for somebody else to act.