The Carnival of Cordite #68 is up, full of Chicks With Guns (it seems like we're stuck on that one, somehow), guns, gun pr0n, guns, and more guns.
Yawn. Same old thing every week. :-)
Friday, August 11, 2006
Don't make a Federal case of it
That's what blogger Josh Wolf is telling the Federal government. Josh is a video blogger, and during one of his outings with a camera (at the July 2005 San Francisco G8 summit meeting) the Feds think he may have captured images of someone setting fire to a San Francisco PD police car. They're asking for Josh's unedited tapes of the event, and he's refused, citing California's journalistic shield law.
The Feds claim that since the police car was paid for, in part, by Federal money, they can make this a Federal case. Josh thinks this has more to do with the politics of those accused (anarchists) than the fact a police car got burned.
Now I want you to think about that very carefully. If this is upheld, it means that the Feds can step into any prosecution in which the crime was committed against (and I think by logical extention, on) property that was paid for, in any part, with Federal money.
Consider this--all governments, from the state level down to the smallest town council, sanitary district and fire district, suck off the Federal tit to a greater or lesser extent. (Yes, that is how I feel about it. Get over it.) I suspect we would all be amazed and hopefully shocked if we knew the extent Federal money figures in the financing of government at all levels.
Let's carry this to its (il)logical endpoint. The Freeholder, who is quite often critical of his government, gets a speeding ticket on the Interstate, and it turns into a Federal prosecution. Far-fetched? Sure, for right now. But as we've all too often come to see, the way out gets way too close to home very quickly these days.
The Feds claim that since the police car was paid for, in part, by Federal money, they can make this a Federal case. Josh thinks this has more to do with the politics of those accused (anarchists) than the fact a police car got burned.
Now I want you to think about that very carefully. If this is upheld, it means that the Feds can step into any prosecution in which the crime was committed against (and I think by logical extention, on) property that was paid for, in any part, with Federal money.
Consider this--all governments, from the state level down to the smallest town council, sanitary district and fire district, suck off the Federal tit to a greater or lesser extent. (Yes, that is how I feel about it. Get over it.) I suspect we would all be amazed and hopefully shocked if we knew the extent Federal money figures in the financing of government at all levels.
Let's carry this to its (il)logical endpoint. The Freeholder, who is quite often critical of his government, gets a speeding ticket on the Interstate, and it turns into a Federal prosecution. Far-fetched? Sure, for right now. But as we've all too often come to see, the way out gets way too close to home very quickly these days.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Increment the Dead Bad Guy counter by 1, please
Of course, the egg-sucking media had to preface the report with this piece of tripe:
Durham police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred early Wednesday inside a house on Dearborn Drive in northern Durham.
No, the police aren't investigating a "fatal shooting"--they want us to believe that the homeowner, who was at home with and "adult female" and a "15 month old child", was at fault because he successfully defended himself and what I assume is his family from armed home invaders.
Send the reporter to Great Britain--that's how they think there, so he/she/it should feel right at home. I think the man needs a pat on the back and a another box of ammo. Not that I think he'll need it--I suspect the Bad Guys will be making a detour around his house.
Durham police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred early Wednesday inside a house on Dearborn Drive in northern Durham.
No, the police aren't investigating a "fatal shooting"--they want us to believe that the homeowner, who was at home with and "adult female" and a "15 month old child", was at fault because he successfully defended himself and what I assume is his family from armed home invaders.
Send the reporter to Great Britain--that's how they think there, so he/she/it should feel right at home. I think the man needs a pat on the back and a another box of ammo. Not that I think he'll need it--I suspect the Bad Guys will be making a detour around his house.
Send More WWE!
News.com reports that there is a large underground movement in China dedicated to the fast translation of American TV programs, which are then distributed by the Internet.
Chinese authorities are predictably mute on the subject, and TV spokesdroids are predictably upset over the copyright violations.
I see opportunity here. A lot of people are worried about the Chinese becoming a superpower. We can handle that easily--let them copy all the American TV they want. Muzzle the spokesdroids and turn a blind eye to what's going on. American popular "culture" will win the battle for us without a shot fired--except on reruns of Miami Vice.
Chinese authorities are predictably mute on the subject, and TV spokesdroids are predictably upset over the copyright violations.
I see opportunity here. A lot of people are worried about the Chinese becoming a superpower. We can handle that easily--let them copy all the American TV they want. Muzzle the spokesdroids and turn a blind eye to what's going on. American popular "culture" will win the battle for us without a shot fired--except on reruns of Miami Vice.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Did I have to get Reason #787 so soon?
(Via Timebomb 2000)
Bystanders Save Boy, 3, From Pond Drowning
But wait, you say, that's good news! Well, you're right, then again, you aren't. The silver cloud has a dark lining:
He carried the boy to the lifeguard stand but witnesses said on-duty lifeguards refused to give the boy CPR without a mouthpiece to protect themselves.
Like there are so many 3 year olds who have a deadly communicable disease.
Let's hope these lifeguards find themselves in the kid's position someday.
Bystanders Save Boy, 3, From Pond Drowning
But wait, you say, that's good news! Well, you're right, then again, you aren't. The silver cloud has a dark lining:
He carried the boy to the lifeguard stand but witnesses said on-duty lifeguards refused to give the boy CPR without a mouthpiece to protect themselves.
Like there are so many 3 year olds who have a deadly communicable disease.
Let's hope these lifeguards find themselves in the kid's position someday.
Take this, gun grabbers
It's been a while since I've done anything about guns, and this picture in one of the local papers is too good to pass up. It definitely is a new twist on the whole "chicks with guns" thing. You go, Heather!
And while we're on the subject of "Friends don't let friends use AOL"...
You'd think that a piece of antivirus/anti-spyware software, offered for free by a big-name ISP, would be a welcome development. After all, it's the experience of most of us computer geeks that people will pay several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars for a computer and refuse to pay $50 for AV software. And while I bless 'em for bringing me the extra coin for repairing their virus/trojan/spyware-addled machines, they're helping make the Internet unusable.
But wait, this largesse is coming from AOL:
Need free AV software? Try AVG from Grisoft. Need a free firewall? Try Zone Alarm. Need free anti-spyware? Windows Defender is unfortunately the one to beat. (Although you can use Spybot and Ad-Aware Personal and do a great job as well.) But geeze, leave the AOL stuff alone, OK?
But wait, this largesse is coming from AOL:
While AOL doesn't ask for money, Active Virus Shield users have to agree to let AOL and its partners deliver ads to them. "As a condition for your use of the software, you agree to receive promotions and periodic e-mail messages from us and our affiliates," according to the fine print in the license and user agreement of the software.
Active Virus Shield collects a host of information that may be used for marketing purposes, starting with the e-mail address required to download and run the product, according to the fine print. Other data collected include usage stats, responses to ads and details about the PC, according to the AOL agreement.
Alongside the antivirus software, AOL ships an Internet Explorer toolbar. The Microsoft toolbar includes an indicator for the PC's security status, a password manager, a pop-up blocker and a link to a Web site for more information on suspicious sites, the Web company said. It also includes an AOL Web search box, which can drive traffic to AOL Search.
Need free AV software? Try AVG from Grisoft. Need a free firewall? Try Zone Alarm. Need free anti-spyware? Windows Defender is unfortunately the one to beat. (Although you can use Spybot and Ad-Aware Personal and do a great job as well.) But geeze, leave the AOL stuff alone, OK?
You are what you search
If you've been around the Internet a while, you may remember a piece of advice that goes something like "Never post/email/IM/blog/make a web page/or in any way divulge information about yourself that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the New York Times."
Add "search for" to that list of terms. News.com reports that a researcher working for AOL created and released a database that aggregated the search histories of over 650,000 of its users. Lucky for these folks, the data was reported by an assigned ID number not related to any of their account information.
Unluckily for these folks, even though AOL has pulled the database, it has already been mirrored and is even now transiting the Internet to who knows where. Considering some of the search terms used, would anyone care to bet me a new gun that there will be law enforcement agencies all over the US filing subpoenas requesting the real identity and location of ID number such-and such?
I didn't think you would.
Add "search for" to that list of terms. News.com reports that a researcher working for AOL created and released a database that aggregated the search histories of over 650,000 of its users. Lucky for these folks, the data was reported by an assigned ID number not related to any of their account information.
Unluckily for these folks, even though AOL has pulled the database, it has already been mirrored and is even now transiting the Internet to who knows where. Considering some of the search terms used, would anyone care to bet me a new gun that there will be law enforcement agencies all over the US filing subpoenas requesting the real identity and location of ID number such-and such?
I didn't think you would.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Justice in America
(Via Drudge)
Most often, miscarriages of justice in our country are rare and rarely reported. However, in the case of the Duke lacrosse players accused of rape, the reporting goes on and on and on. And the longer it goes on, the worse it looks for DA Mike Nifong and his case.
The Raleigh News and Observer has this to say on the case and the facts surrounding it. Read it and be incensed at our criminal justice system.
There are days I'm not proud to say I'm from North Carolina, the home of the Little Rascals Daycare Fiasco and the Duke Lacrosse Lunacy.
Most often, miscarriages of justice in our country are rare and rarely reported. However, in the case of the Duke lacrosse players accused of rape, the reporting goes on and on and on. And the longer it goes on, the worse it looks for DA Mike Nifong and his case.
The Raleigh News and Observer has this to say on the case and the facts surrounding it. Read it and be incensed at our criminal justice system.
There are days I'm not proud to say I'm from North Carolina, the home of the Little Rascals Daycare Fiasco and the Duke Lacrosse Lunacy.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
The shade of Dan Rather walks
(Via Drudge)
Once again, bloggers (along with a number of professional photographers) have caught the legacy media in a blatant lie. Since the truth doesn't support their position, this time a Reuters photog has apparantly Photoshoped images of Israeli bombing in Beruit in order to make it look far worse than it is. Interestingly enough, this same "photojournalist" shot some of the most inflammatory images from the Israeli bombing of Qana where 56 no-combatants were killed. There are persistent rumors than much of the scene was staged.
Gee, Big Media lying to us--who'da thunk it?
Once again, bloggers (along with a number of professional photographers) have caught the legacy media in a blatant lie. Since the truth doesn't support their position, this time a Reuters photog has apparantly Photoshoped images of Israeli bombing in Beruit in order to make it look far worse than it is. Interestingly enough, this same "photojournalist" shot some of the most inflammatory images from the Israeli bombing of Qana where 56 no-combatants were killed. There are persistent rumors than much of the scene was staged.
Gee, Big Media lying to us--who'da thunk it?
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