Month: November 2010

The ACLU

Many of the people I talk to bring up the ACLU as some kind of paragon of civil liberties defense. I’ve never bought into this line of thinking even through I fully acknowledge that the organization has taken on some very good cases. The problem with the ACLU lie in what they consider civil liberties.

This post is here because of a conversation I had with a friend last night. My friend was pointing out the fact that not a single Republican was given a 100% score on civil liberties from the ACLU. This struck me as odd because if there is one thing you can’t fault Ron Paul on it’s civil liberties, and he’s a Republican. I decided to look up their scoring and found Dr. Paul had a measly 42% rating (I chose Ron Paul because he’s a known and predictable quantity, there are other people on there that should be given much high ratings as well). This lead me to question what the ACLU considers civil liberties.

Their pages for the House and Senate list the criteria that is used to determine each politicians ratings. Before I continue I’d like to point out when you hover over the green check marks following a politician’s name the tool tip text states, “Voted right way” while hovering over the red xs states, “Voted wrong way.” I just find their terminology rather funny.

But look at the bills they are using as judgment cases. I’ll just pull a single example otherwise this post will go on for pages. I’ll use the Probhibting Funding of Syringe Exchange Program which is stated by the ACLU as being:

On Friday, July 24, 2009, the House defeated an amendment offered by Representative Mark Souder (R-IN) to the FY 2010 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 3293) by a vote of 211-218. The Souder Amendment would have prohibited federal funds from being used to support syringe exchange programs. The ACLU opposed the Souder Amendment as a rejection of evidence-based science, which would have harmful consequences for public health. Every scientific study of needle exchange programs has concluded that access to sterile injection equipment is a proven way to reduce the spread of deadly, infectious blood-borne diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

What the fuck does this have to do with civil liberties? This is a health care bill when you drill down to the basics. It has nothing to do with anybody’s rights in the slightest. I don’t care whether or not the ACLU stands for or against this bill, but grading politicians on it shows that they aren’t focused on civil liberties.

Beyond that another thing I hate about the ACLU is their stance on the right to keep and bear arms:

Given the reference to “a well regulated Militia” and “the security of a free State,” the ACLU has long taken the position that the Second Amendment protects a collective right rather than an individual right. For seven decades, the Supreme Court’s 1939 decision in United States v. Miller was widely understood to have endorsed that view.

The Supreme Court has now ruled otherwise. In striking down Washington D.C.’s handgun ban by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, whether or not associated with a state militia.

The ACLU disagrees with the Supreme Court’s conclusion about the nature of the right protected by the Second Amendment. We do not, however, take a position on gun control itself. In our view, neither the possession of guns nor the regulation of guns raises a civil liberties issue.

They don’t believe the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right. They also disagree with the outcome of Heller. What I find amazing is the fact that they don’t find possession nor regulation of guns a civil liberties issue. I can’t imagine what is more important to civil liberties than having a means of defending them.

So with a combination focusing on non-civil liberties issues and a willingness to ignore other civil liberty issues I must state I do not support the ACLU.

A Case for Resisting Your Assailant

Those of us advocating armed citizenry hear a common argument for those advocating a disarmed citizenry, if you just give the criminal what they want they won’t harm you. It’s an ignorant belief though because that’s not always the case. Take for example this incident:

Police say the two Iowa store clerks — one a mother of 11 — did exactly what Michael Richard Swanson demanded, his shotgun pointed at their faces.

But the 17-year-old St. Louis Park boy allegedly shot them anyway, plunging two north-central Iowa towns into shock and grief. It was unclear why Swanson, who has a history of assault and theft, would drive south and in the span of an hour allegedly become a cold-blooded killer.

About 9:05 p.m., Swanson put on a mask and entered the Crossroads convenience store in Algona, demanding cash and cigarettes. Clerk Vicky Bowman-Hall, 47, did what he said, but he shot her. The mother of 11 died at the Algona hospital.

Police say that about 10 p.m., Swanson entered the Kum and Go station in Humboldt, robbed it and shot Sheila Myers, 61. Myers was dead at the scene.

Even though the two clerks submitted to their attacker and gave into his demands he killed them. The idea of simply giving a criminal what they want and they’ll go away ignores the fact that crazy people are crazy. When you’re facing an armed attacker the situation is already volatile. You know one thing about your attacker, they’ve threatened your life.

In my book the second somebody threatens my life I no longer trust anything they say. Why should I believe somebody stating they are willing to kill me won’t do so if I simply give into their demands? What guarantee do I have that they’ll stick to their word? None.

Being armed gives you an option, a means of defending yourself. Obviously a gun isn’t a magical talisman that will ensure you walk away alive but it gives you far better chances than being completely helpless.

USB is Evil

Most people realize that Firewire has much better sustained read and write speeds when compared to USB but I’ve never gone so far as to say USB is the Devil. Then again I’m not an Evangelical Christian in Brazil:

The evangelical cult “Paz do Senhor Amado” (“Peace of the beloved Lord”) in the interior of Brazil forbids its followers to use any USB technology by contending that it uses a symbol that shows sympathy for the devil.

According to its founder, the “Apostle” Welder Saldanha says that this is just another symbol of Satan, which is always present in all Christian homes.

“The symbol of that name (a name which he doesn’t even like to pronounce) is a trident, which is used to torture souls that go to hell. Use only a symbol of those shows that all users of that vile technology are actually worshipers of Satan” – explains the” Apostle”.

I actually lack any smart ass remark that could add to the hilarity of that statement.

You Don’t Need the Government to Solve Everything

Sometimes I read the Red Star because I find the letters to the editors hilarious. You really get a good feel for some of the people who read that particular newspaper. One thing I’ve noticed about the average submitter to the Red Star is their complete reliance on the government for everything. Case in point I present the following letter. The main part I find hilarious is the following:

On Sunday, the Star Tribune reported on the possibility that the new Republican-controlled state Legislature may renege on its local government aid to cities across Minnesota (“Twin Cities’ budgets built on house of cards,” Nov. 14).

If that happens, how long will a fallen tree lay there blocking the street in the next big storm?

This may come as a shock to Mrs. Ellsworth but you can actually do things yourself. Let me explains a government free way of moving a fallen tress. First you need a neighbor who is awesome and owns a chainsaw (not one of those pussy electric ones but a manly gas guzzling tree destroyer). If you lack any neighbors who own a chainsaw then you live in a shitty neighborhood and should correct the problem by purchasing one for yourself.

Once a chainsaw has been obtained the tree can be cut into smaller pieces. This follows the golden rule of computer programming; all problems can be broken down into small and manageable pieces. Once said tree has been cut into small pieces it can be moved out of the way. Through the use of team work in the community a downed tree can be easily removed by the people living in the area. What a concept! Shit it’s almost as if we don’t actually need government to get us through our everyday lives.

So to answer the author’s question the tree will remain there until the local community deals with it. If you’re all too lazy to deal with it that’s your own damned problem.

The Inconsistency of the ATF

Us gunnies spend a lot of time bitching about the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (AFT). We don’t bitch about the ATF because of their mandate so much as their inconsistency. For instance if I own a handgun it’s perfectly OK. The second I attach a vertical foregrip to the pistol’s front rail it becomes an Any Other Weapon (AOW) and falls under the regulations put forth in the National Firearms Act. Another case of inconsistency are rulings involving pistol grip shotguns. What is put forth in that link is a great article demonstrating the fact the ATF don’t really know what the fuck they’re doing and thus consistency isn’t their strong point.

Online Privacy

Facebook revealed a new messaging service yesterday and today when rolling into work I heard some guy on the radio talking about the privacy implications (sadly although I have an FM transmitter attached to my iPod there is a split second between the time I turn my iPod off and when I turn my truck off that exposes me to regular radio).

I thought I’d take a second to remind everybody about the golden rule of Internet privacy. If you don’t want everybody in the world to know something don’t post it online. The Internet was never developed with privacy in mind and although websites often try to make data private eventually that data becomes public through human error or system compromise.

The other thing to remember is the simple fact that putting information on a system you don’t completely control may lead to undesirable consequences. You do not control Facebook as you don’t own their servers. This means all information you post on that site is outside of your realm of control making it impossible to know how secure the data is.

Either way if you follow the golden rule of Internet privacy you should never have a problem.

How Not to Do Something

A lot of people complain about the grip of Glock pistols. Because the grip is an unmodifiable part of the gun the only way to change it is through destruction of the grip. Some people can do a half way decent job of modifying Glock grips while others do not. Presented in this link is an example of how not to modify your Glock’s grip.

Time for Some Fear Mongering of My Own

I’m getting sick of the Theater of Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) fear mongering and molestations so it’s time to make some fear mongering of my own. Why? Because I’m a dick and sick of the TSA. Likewise what I’m about to write has potential to be true just like there is potential that you could put a bomb in your shoe.

New TSA regulations recently released require any person who refuses to go through the naked body scanner to receive an extra special pat down. This extra special pat down means the TSA molester agent will keep patting you down until they start touching your junk. Additionally the only requirement to get a job at the TSA is a GRE.

So the question is raised, what kind of people will seek employment at the TSA? Most likely molesters and pedophiles. Think about it for a second. Sexual predators like to put themselves in positions of authority over their victims. Many teachers have been charged with statutory rape and most likely went into teaching to gain access to children. We’re probably going to see a ton of pedophiles join the TSA so they have the chance to see children naked on their scanners or if the parent refuses to send their child through the agent gets to feel the little tike up.

How’s that for fear mongering? Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Wait… this Has happened.

Android Advantage

Yes I go back and forth on the advantages and disadvantages of Android. You have to give me credit on one thing, I’m not a fan boy.

One of the problems I have with my Evo 4G is the generally buggy nature of the included software. Android 2.2 had a lot of troubles with their media layer that were finally sorted out around the release of 2.2.1. The main problem is HTC hasn’t released an update with the new version of Android yet so audio I’ve left paused for a long time is likely to start from the beginning again when I press the play button. This along with a bug that impairs my phones Exchange syncing capabilities (it can’t properly sync with my work’s calendar most of the time and when the calendar sync fails it refuses to sync e-mail as well) has left me rather agitated with Android.

Thankfully Android is an open source operating system and hence anybody is free to roll their own version. Personally I’m far too lazy to do such a thing so I rely on others. For the last several days I’ve been running Cyanogenmod on my phone and frankly it fixes all the issues I’ve had with my phone.

The downside is I lose the ability to use 4G (which I rarely use due to it being a power hog) and HDMI out (which I’ve never used and don’t even have a cable for). Those features will most likely come in a future release so I’m not worried and keep a backup of my old ROM for instances where I need those features. What I like is the fact the features I use on a more daily basis (Last.fm, Pandora, and Exchange synchronization) all work perfectly now.

When people say Android is open this is what they mean. Of course you need to have a NAND unlocked phone in order to install a different ROM so you’re likely limited to more popular phones (as those are the ones hackers work on rooting and unlocking NAND on). Even with that restriction in place the fact of the matter is if you don’t like your current ROM you can swap it out on a lot of phones.