A Geek With Guns

The family of the murdered Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, are finally moving forward with a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF):

The family of murdered Border Patrol agent Brian Terry has filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives claiming Terry was killed with AK-47s that were knowingly sold under the Fast and Furious gunrunning probe to a straw purchaser for drug cartels.

I’m sure the ATF will be working hard to squirm their way out of taking responsibility for Terry’s death.

One idea communists and many flavors of anarchism agree on is the idea that workers should revolt against their bosses. In a communist society and many forms of anarchist society workers are each to own an equal share in the business they work at. The big scary capitalist, the owners of the businesses, are to be overthrown. Of course this idea also has a habit of leaving dead bodies in its wake:

Workers at the Regency Ceramics factory in India raided the home of their boss, and beat him senseless with lead pipes after a wage dispute turned ugly.

The workers were enraged enough to kill Regency’s president K. C. Chandrashekhar after their union leader, M. Murali Mohan, was killed by baton-wielding riot police on Thursday. The labor violence occurred in Yanam, a small city in Andra Pradesh state on India’s east coast. Police were called to the factory by management to quell a labor dispute. The workers had been calling for higher pay and reinstatement of previously laid off workers since October. Murali was fired a few hours after the police left the factory.

The next morning, at 06:00 on Friday, Murali went to the factory along with some workers and tried to obstruct the morning shift, local media reported. Long batons, known as lathis in India, were used by police who charged the workers, injuring at least 20 of them, including Murali. He died on the way to hospital, according to The Times of India. Hundreds of workers gathered outside the police station and demanded that officers be charged with homicide.

There is so much fail in this story that I’m not sure where to begin. First you have the workers striking in the hopes of getting better wages. I’m entirely for workers voluntarily coming together and demanding better pay, benefits, and working conditions but I’m also entirely for an employer being able to fire those employees. Some will call me and evil bourgeois but they miss the entire point of voluntary association. As an employer I can choose to associate with you by trading for your labor or not. On the other side of the coin workers can also choose to associate with an employer by trading their labor or not. When laws are made giving unions power over employers the entire concept of voluntary association is thrown out the window.

If the value brought to the job by the employees is worth more money then they will be paid more money (they may have to strike first). On the other hand if the value brought by the employees isn’t work the money being demanded they are given the option to continue working at the previously agreed to wage or leave and make room for a new person to take the job. Thus employees who strike need to realize that they may be replaceable making their strike worthless.

Next you have the idea of a picket line. Picket lines are simple in concept, strike participants block entry to the business. If the picket line is on the business property and the property owner doesn’t want the picketers there the owners should have the right to remove the picketers. This is a condition of absolute property rights.

Then you have the fact that police showed up to remove the picketers and were faced with physical assault. Somebody trespassing on your property has initiated violence again you and you have the right to take necessary means to remove him or her. This doesn’t mean you have the right to kill them outright, you do have the right to push or shove them off the property and if they escalate the situation you have the right to react in kind. In other words if you try to drag them off your property and are faced with physical force you have the right to use physical force yourself.

Some of the workers were killed by the police so the act taken by some of the other workers was to hunt down and kill the employer. Let’s stop and think about this for a minute, instead of targeting their wrath at the police officers who killed those workers the wrath was instead focuses at the employer whose land was being trespassed upon.

Violent revolution always ends with dead bodies therefore revolutionary communists (and any other philosophy for that matter) is a necessarily violent philosophy.

I’m not even sure what to say about this most recent screwup by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA):

1. TSA screener finds two pipes in passenger’s bags.
2. Screener determines that they’re not a threat.
3. Screener confiscates them anyway, because of their “material and appearance.”
4. Because they’re not actually a threat, screener leaves them at the checkpoint.
5. Everyone forgets about them.
6. Six hours later, the next shift of TSA screeners notices the pipes and — not being able to explain how they got there and, presumably, because of their “material and appearance” — calls the police bomb squad to remove the pipes.
7. TSA does not evacuate the airport, or even close the checkpoint, because — well, we don’t know why.

I don’t even feel the need to add a witty remark, the stupidity of the TSA speaks for itself.

If this is how we treat our allies I don’t even want to know how we treat our enemies:

US President Barack Obama has confirmed that unmanned drones regularly strike suspected militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Mr Obama called the strikes a “targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists”.

For the record were a country to fly unmanned drones into our airspace for the purpose of targeting and killing suspected terrorists we would call it a declaration of war. Somehow when we do the same thing it’s perfectly fine though.

OK the title is misleading because Big Brother is watching more than just your Twitter feed but Twitter is one of the sites being monitored by General Dynamics under a contract granted by the Department of Homeland Motherland Security (DHS).

EPIC’s FOIA lawsuit forced the DHS to disclose 285 pages of records. The documents include contracts, price estimates, Privacy Impact Assessment, and communications concerning DHS Media Monitoring program. These records make public, for the first time, details of the DHS’s efforts to spy on social network users and journalists.

The records reveal that the DHS is paying General Dynamics to monitor the news. The agency instructed the company to monitor for “[media] reports that reflect adversely on the U.S. Government, DHS, or prevent, protect, respond government activities.”

The documents can be viewed at the provided link. What makes this interesting is the fact that this monitoring was apparently used to arrest a person traveling to the United States:

Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to ‘destroy America’ and ‘dig up Marilyn Monroe’.

Leigh Van Bryan, 26, was handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours after landing in Los Angeles with pal Emily Bunting.

The Department of Homeland Security flagged him as a potential threat when he posted an excited tweet to his pals about his forthcoming trip to Hollywood which read: ‘Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America’.

Bruce Schneier, who I obtained this story from is doubtful that General Dynamic’s monitoring of Twitter is what actually lead to the arrest of the two British tourists:

Still, I have trouble believing that this is what happened. For this to work General Dynamics would have had to monitor Twitter for key words. (“Destroy America” is certainly a good key word to search for.) Then, they would have to find out the real name associated with the Twitter account — unlike Facebook or Google+, Twitter doesn’t have real name information — so the TSA could cross-index that name with the airline’s passenger manifests. Then the TSA has to get all this information into the INS computers, so that the border control agent knows to detain him. Sure, it sounds straightforward, but getting all those computers to talk to each other that fast isn’t easy. There has to be more going on here.

Twitter does have a mechanism for entering your real name as I have my real name entered in it. When you go to my Twitter feed you can see my user name is ComradeBurg but the name displayed is Christopher Burg and that I’m in Minnesota. Therefore it is conceivable that the monitoring being done by General Dynamics grabbed the offending tweeter’s real user name and location, fed to to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to be cross referenced with flight manifests, and a target could be found and arrested.

Of course this all depends on the Twitter user entering the real name and real location, but that is a problem that must be overcome when monitoring any website. I do agree with Schenier’s remark though because as he said getting all of those computers (not to mention those bureaucracies) to talk to each other so quickly is unlikely. Claiming that the target was arrested solely from obtaining their Twitter information seems like propaganda being thrown out to scare the public into obedience. In fact that’s exactly what the concept of Big Brother was supposed to do in 1984′s society, scare the populace into obedience. Truthfully nobody was sure whether or not Big Brother was actually watching them, but the fear of being watched kept the people from getting too many thoughts of revolution in their heads.

You can now get prison time in the United Kingdom for obtaining verboten knowledge:

Asim Kauser, aged 25, of Bardon Close, Halliwell, Bolton, pleaded guilty to four offences under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at an earlier hearing. The particulars are that Kauser was in possession of records of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He has today, 27 January 2012, been sentenced to two years and three months in prison at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square. Kauser was arrested and charged following an operation by the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit.

The first thing I had to do was look up Section 58 of the Terrorism Act. What Section 58 does is make the possession of certain knowledge outright illegal:

58 Collection of information.

(1)A person commits an offence if—

(a)he collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b)he possesses a document or record containing information of that kind.

(2)In this section “record” includes a photographic or electronic record.

(3)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.

(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, to a fine or to both, or

(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.

So a person commits and offense if possess a document or record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. That is so broad that somebody could be charged for possessing any document. A blueprint for a building would be very useful for somebody wanting to commit an act of terrorism at said building so the architect in possession of the blueprint could easily be charged under this section. Subsection three really makes me laugh because the only way to avoid this charge is to prove you have a reasonable excuse for the possession of that document. Notice that “reasonable” isn’t actually defined to it means whatever agents of the state says it means. That’s the kind of open ended law that I’ve come to expect from jolly old England (honestly I expect it from the United States as well).

Let’s get back to the story. Kauser is now sitting in prison for two years because he violated this catchall law. So what knowledge was Kauser in possession of exactly? Mostly material that I’d find interesting to read through:

Kauser’s father gave police a USB stick which was thought to contain CCTV images of the burglary.

However, when it was examined it contained recipes on how to make explosive devices and poisons, anti-interrogation techniques and details on how to kill efficiently.

A further examination of the stick revealed a letter, addressed to an unknown recipient, in which the author – again anonymous but referring to himself as a 24-year-old man – seeks spiritual guidance and says he has prepared himself physically and financially for jihad.

Officers also recovered a list that contained prices in both pounds and rupees of a number of items, including an AK47 rifle, rounds of ammunition, a grenade launcher and other survival or combat material.

Forensic analysis of the pen drive revealed the material had been downloaded in the spring of 2010.

With the exception of a letter seeking spiritual guidance all the information on the thumb drive would be material that interests me. While I have no interest in blowing anything up I find the chemistry of making explosives interesting and I sure as the hell enjoy reading about different counter-interrogation techniques. I don’t even think I need to state the fact that I have lists of gun prices in my possession on a very regular basis.

Ultimately though this story just seems downright fishy. Supposedly Kauser had a magical unencrypted USB stick that contains material on making explosives, killing people, and countering interrogation alongside a single archived email asking for spiritual guidance and a statement saying he’s physically and finically ready for jihad. Not only that but all of this information is from 2010 and Kauser hasn’t made any indication of acting using the information found on this USB drive. That combination of things just seems far too convenient.

The Secret Service must be bored as shit if they can waste time interrogating a buch of guys who went to the range and used an Obama t-shirt as a target:

A photograph showing a group of men with guns posing with a bullet-riddled T-shirt containing an image of Barack Obama’s face is to be investigated by the Secret Service, a spokesman confirmed to NBC News.

The New York Times reported that the picture showed seven young men, four with weapons, one of whom was holding a T-shirt with the president’s face on it, above the word “HOPE.” The T-shirt was covered in holes and gashes.

The Times said the photograph was posted on the Facebook page of a Peoria, Ariz., police officer, Sgt. Pat Shearer, on Jan. 20.

“We are aware of it. Anytime information is brought to our attention that a group or individual expresses an unusual interest in one of our protectees, we conduct the appropriate follow-up,” Secret Service spokesman Max Milien told NBC News.

“We respect the right of free speech and expression but we certainly have the right and obligation to speak to individuals to determine what their intent is,” he added. “We treat anything (any potential threat) seriously. We can’t dismiss anything.”

While I find shooting a target representing a specific human being a bit distasteful there certainly is nothing illegal about it nor should it raise much in the way of suspicion. Let’s be honest with ourselves, people take their frustrations out on targets depicting people they dislike all the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to the range and somebody was shooting a target emblazoned with a picture of Osama bin Laden. I’ve person shot up a copy of Twilight but in no way would I ever want to bring actual harm against the book’s author (I actually hold a lot of respect for anybody who knows their audience so well that they can crank up completely drivel and make a fortune doing it, I wish I could).

The Secret Service says they have the right to speak with these individuals and to that I disagree. Members of the Secret Service are paid using money stolen from me in the form of tax dollars so I feel I should at least get a little bang for my buck. If there is a credible threat to one of our politicians then do your thing and stop it, but this is obviously not a threat.

What’s more likely is that the Secret Service wants to make open criticism of the president a frightening ordeal. They’re basically saying, “If you express dissatisfaction with the president we’re going to be knocking on your door.”

The United States is a nation of laws, a lot of laws:

About 40,000 state laws taking effect at the start of the new year will change rules about getting abortions in New Hampshire, learning about gays and lesbians in California, getting jobs in Alabama and even driving golf carts in Georgia.

Several federal rules change with the new year, too, including a Social Security increase amounting to $450 a year for the average recipients and stiff fines up to $2,700 per offense for truckers and bus drivers caught using hand-held cellphones while driving.

40,000 new state laws taking effect this year? The “ignorance of the laws isn’t an excuse” excuse is no longer valid. Nobody can possibly hope to know 40,000 laws, and those are only the new ones on the books this year.

Sua Eccellenza Barack Obama, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell’Impero has some very powerful abilities. He can just mention a company during his State of the Union address causing them to instantly go bankrupt:

Andrew Restuccia of The Hill is reporting that Ener1, a battery company that President Obama referenced in his State of The Union Speech on Tuesday as an example of successful energy investments, has just filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

That’s just two days after the speech.

I believe it’s obvious for all to see that Obama’s words are the touch of death for any company. First Solyndra and now Ener1, I wonder what that next company Obama will point to as a successful investment only to see it go into bankruptcy shortly afterwards. Does this power extent to government agencies? If so I have a list of government agencies for Obama to mention.

Those clamoring for more government oversight of the environment, food, drugs, and everything else seem to entirely miss the fact that the government is never actually good at overseeing anything. On the other hand private individuals are far more likely to actually investigate or even stumble upon violations of property rights. An amateur model airplane pilot recently stumbled across a meat packing plant dumping untold amounts of waste into a local river:

A tip from an anonymous amateur unmanned-aerial-vehicle pilot is what led Texas authorities to open a major criminal investigation into the waste practices of a Dallas meat packing plant.

The Environmental Protection Agency, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and Texas Parks and Wildlife are investigating whether a Dallas meat packing plant was sending its wastewater to a local river after images from an amateur UAV pilot showed a river behind the plant “full of blood.” The Columbia Meat packing plant sits along a creek that runs into the Trinity River.

The contamination was noticed by the operator after reviewing images he’d taken of the Trinity River while flying a homemade UAV, according to Small Unmanned Aerial Systems News (sUAS), a Web site that tracks unmanned vehicle-related news.

You have to love how the news is now referring to model airplanes as unmanned aerial vehicles. Back to the point though you’ll notice that even though the government supposedly inspects meat packing plants they somehow managed to miss the massive amount of waster being dumped into the nearby river.

Of course the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is going to investigate and likely fine the plant but I doubt those living along that river, people who had their property contaminated, will be compensated in any way. Hell we may find out that the meat packing plant was given one of those exemption from environmental laws that the EPA is so fond of handing out.