February 7, 2018 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"South Africa's Farm Wives: A Life of Fear"--Lauren Southern (4-1/2 min.)

This is a continuation of Southern's series on crime and genocide against Boer farmers in South Africa.

• "Amid concerns over public safety, Germans are buying more weapons"--Deutsche Welle. From the article:

        The number of Germans who have acquired weapons permits has risen considerably over the past two years. Having the requisite documentation allows people in the country to carry things like non-lethal gas pistols in public. In January 2016, just under 301,000 people had such a permit; in December 2017 there were over 557,000.

           Weapons retailers say that defensive blinding flashlights, stun guns and gas spray are selling so well they are having trouble keeping shelves stocked. Self-defense courses are also increasingly popular. Classes at Taekwondo clubs, fitness studios, and even municipal community centers are attracting more and more participants.

• "Shotgun Magazines: Box-Fed vs. Tube-Fed"--Shooting Illustrated. An article looking at the advantages and disadvantages of both. For instance, discussing the problems raised by a detachable box magazine:

         Most of these problems arise from the fact a 12-gauge shotshell is .75-inch wide and rimmed. That means that a detachable magazine, along with its spring and follower within, must be about 7 inches long just to hold five rounds. Its spring must be stout enough to counter the effects of gravity upon these heavy shells, but not so stiff that it can’t be loaded by hand. Rimmed shells means that they cannot sit flush on each other, so the longer the magazine, the more the shells become offset and reliability suffers.

          Finally, consider that a 7-inch-long appendage hanging from the gun’s receiver alters the natural balance of the shotgun and therefore spoils one of the weapon’s main advantages: its intuitiveness to point where the shooter looks.  

          The detachable magazine also makes the gun more cumbersome. While this is true on any magazine-fed rifle, it’s perceived to be worse if the shooter is accustomed to more-traditional shotguns. If you lift the gun’s barrel up as if to open a door and pie a room, snagging a door frame with the mag is a very real possibility.

The latter problem mentioned--pieing a room--is also presented with any rifle that has a box magazine or pistol grip; so, to me, it is not a reasonable objection. Whether it significantly alters the balance of the shotgun is also something that would rather wait and see what people report from actual experience. The feeding and loading problems probably are a realistic assessment. I've also read others point out that the spring tension may also impact the shape and function of a shell, noting that the shotgun shell is generally plastic and more readily subject to deformation compared to a handgun or rifle cartridge.

• "Cape Town cuts limit on water use by nearly half as 'Day Zero' looms"--CNN.

• Related: "What Happens if Your City Runs Out of Water?"--Apartment Prepper. This article delves into statistics on the average amount of water that people use for different tasks or purposes.

• Diversity is our strength: "Italian Gunman Opens Fire on 'Foreigners' After Gruesome Murder"--The Truth About Guns. A Nigerian drug dealer literally hacked apart an 18-year old Italian girl, with parts of the body stuffed into a suitcase. An Italian man, in response, shot and wounded 6 African migrants as part of a shooting spree. Anonymous Conservative has more information and commentary: "18 Year Old Killed And Chopped Into Pieces In Italy By Nigerian Migrant" and "Italian Goes On Shooting Spree To Avenge Murder Of Teen By Migrant." The latter is particularly helpful in its discussion of why you should still want to keep your protests to something legal at this point.
• See my crocodile tears: "The Parents Of This Dead Robber Are Really Mad His Victim Had A Gun"--Bearing Arms. Background story is that the deceased, Michael Grace Jr., and two of his associates held up a Pizza Hut. However, an armed employee shot and killed Grace Jr. Now his parents are upset, arguing that if anyone should have shot their son, it should have been police. The mother is particularly upset that the robber was killed by a head shot. "A head shot is personal,” she howled. Well, armed robbery is also personal.
• Good Goddess! "DC Episcopal Diocese Scraps 'Gendered Language' for God, Opens Activities Based on Gender ID"--The Christian Post. From the article:

          The resolution about language for God emphasized replacing gendered references to God with gender neutral language and pronouns wherever possible.

           The measure was subsequently amended to say "... if revision of the Book of Common Prayer [a liturgical prayer book used by Anglicans worldwide] is authorized, to utilize expansive language for God from the rich sources of feminine, masculine, and non-binary imagery for God found in Scripture and tradition and, when possible, to avoid the use of gendered pronouns for God."

I'm trying to work this out in my head. So when Christ said we should pray to the Father in His name (Christ being the Son of God), we are supposed to pretend that there is no gender indicated by "Father" and "Son"?

• I'm shocked, I tell you! "HORRIFYING: Ex-Cop Testifies That Baltimore Police Carried Fake Guns To Plant On Suspects"--The Daily Wire.
• More news concerning the Baltimore PD: "Who's the bad guy now? Dealers take the stand to testify against 'corrupt cops who faked warrants to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and drugs from them'"--Daily Mail. The corrupt cops were part of the now-disbanded Gun Trace Task Force.
• "Best Ice Cleats for Traction on Ice and Snow (2018)"--Modern Survival Blog. The author has updated his review and judgment as to the best strap on ice cleats. And the top model/brand: STABILicers.
• "Training Tips for the DA/SA Semi-Automatic Handgun"--Shooting Illustrated. The problem with using DA/SA pistols has always been the substantially different trigger pull for double-action (DA) versus single-action (SA). The author writes:

          There are a couple of ways to solve these issues if you shoot a DA/SA pistol. The first is to find a trigger finger placement that works in both modes. It’s a bit of a compromise, but allows you to shoot without having to adjust your finger position on the trigger. The other fix is to use a lot of finger on the trigger for the DA shot then adjust the finger for the SA shot using the pad of the finger up to the first joint to precisely press the trigger straight to the rear. Doing a lot of dry practice on the heavy DA trigger press can help as well.

           After your dry-practice sessions, head to the range. Once there, work on firing two-shot sequences starting from a low-ready position, two hands on the pistol, muzzle depressed. Bring the gun up; focus on the front sight and stroke through the DA pull without disturbing the sight alignment. Follow-up with an SA shot. Come back down to low ready, de-cock the pistol and repeat. If you’re comfortable working from the holster, move on to that but remember to always decock the pistol and holster carefully with the trigger finger straight and off the trigger. While it’s easier to shoot the pistol well in the SA mode, keep de-cocking and starting in DA until you’re comfortable. A typical range session might include firing 100 rounds at varying distances, all in DA/SA pairs.

• "Two people are killed and more than 180 injured as hotel collapses after 6.4 magnitude earthquake strikes Taiwan"--Daily Mail. This is somewhat surprising in a first-world country--a 6.4 is generally not that dangerous where modern building codes and have been followed and frame construction employed.
• Another blow to the Out of Africa Theory? "Before Our Species Left Africa, Now-Extinct Humans Made These Fancy Tools In India"--Gizmodo. Scientists have dated stone tools found in India to 385,000 years ago--more than twice older than when modern humans supposedly left Africa.
• Paging Colin Flaherty: "Disturbing footage shows man take advantage of an intoxicated woman passed out on the Vegas Strip and NOBODY seems to care"--Daily Mail. 
• The wages of sin socialism: "Once-rich Venezuelans live as beggars in Colombia, but they don’t want to go back"--Miami Herald. From the article:

           As Venezuela’s economy continues to crumble, thousands of its citizens are trekking into Colombia every day — sometimes by walking hundreds of miles on foot through the Andes — to escape chronic shortages of food and medicine, frequent looting and rampant crime.

           Bogotá officials believe that as many as 600,000 Venezuelans are now living in Colombia. President Juan Manuel Santos is expected to travel to the border town of Cúcuta on Thursday to announce measures to deal with the looming immigration crisis.

           That hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have decided to flee their homes shows the degree to which the economy has crumbled under President Nicolás Maduro, the handpicked successor of the late Hugo Chávez to carry on his socialist revolution.

           The once wealthy nation — which used to provide billions of dollars in aid to its allies — is caught in a hyperinflation spiral. Around four million people — of the country’s population of 30 million — might already have left the country, according to local polling firms.

           Venezuelans begging for a few coins or selling candy on the streets of Bogotá said they really had no option but to leave.

• All your conspiracy theories are coming true: "FBI lovers' latest text messages: Obama 'wants to know everything'"--Fox News. Per the article, "[n]ewly revealed text messages between FBI paramours Peter Strzok and Lisa Page include an exchange about preparing talking points for then-FBI Director James Comey to give to President Obama, who wanted 'to know everything we’re doing.'" This raises questions of how involved the White House was in the investigation into Hillary Clinton and her private email server.
• "Pistol-Packing Passer-By Aids Utah Policeman Being Assaulted"--U.S. News & World Report. The article indicates that the officer "suffered a fractured eye socket and lacerations around his eye," and that the local PD believed that the Good Samaritan had helped save the officer's life.