Chronicling the depravities of the State.
Need an increase in your blood pressure this morning? Well I think I can oblige you with a video of the Delaware Department of Transpiration stealing more private property:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZZHGO5sXw]
Yes they not only ripped out a basketball hoop that’s been there for 60 years but then they stole it after telling the owner he could keep his property. I hope this man gets some justice but being the justice is doled by the ones stealing property I highly doubt it.
The Transpiration Security Administration (TSA) is on a witch hunt… literally:
Here’s a situation for all you aspiring managers: If you were the boss at a U.S. government agency and one of your employees complained that she was afraid of a co-worker’s religious practices, what would you do?
Would it change your decision if the religion were Wicca, and the employee feared her co-worker because she thought she might cast a spell on her?
Here’s how the Transportation Security Administration handled it:
It fired the witch.
I thought it was illegal to fire somebody in the United States because of their religious practices. Oh yeah I forgot that rule only applies to private industry, it’s OK when the government fires people based on their religion. To be fair we should probably look into what specific religious practice lead to the co-worker filing a complaint. Maybe the witch was sacrificing a small animal at the airport:
The assistant director told her he was investigating a threat of workplace violence. He said that her former mentor in on-the-job training, officer Mary Bagnoli, reported that she was afraid of Smith because she was a witch who practiced witchcraft. She accused Smith of following her on the highway one snowy evening after work and casting a spell on the heater of her car, causing it not to work.
Or the co-worker is a complete fucking idiot, that was actually my second guess. It’s nice to know the tradition of an honest to goodness witch hunt hasn’t completely died off. Thor forbid if somebody were to practice a non-mainstream religion. Oh and this line made me chuckle:
And it sheds light on work life at the TSA, where the 40,000-plus public employees who keep bad people and bad things off of airplanes have started voting this month on whether to join a union.
Name one instance where a TSA operative was able to keep a bad people or thing off of an airplane. Since the establishment of the TSA it seems to be that bad things keep getting onto airplanes. Let us not forget the shoe bomber, underwear bomber, and of course the liquid bombers. All of them managed to get past the TSA security theater without any problem.
Oh, and bonus points to MSNBC for find a way to mention unions in a story that has absolutely nothing to do with unions. Real subtle.
You know the government stimulus plan that was supposed to spurt job creation is working out really well when job fairs have to be cancelled because not enough companies are coming forth to offer jobs:
A Massachusetts employment organization has canceled its annual job fair because not enough companies have come forward to offer jobs.
Richard Shafer, chairman of the Taunton Employment Task Force, says 20 to 25 employers are needed for the fair scheduled for April 6, but just 10 tables had been reserved. One table was reserved by a nonprofit that offers human services to job seekers, and three by temporary employment agencies.
It’s OK though. The government will simply do another stimulus plan to spurt job creation. After all if something doesn’t work the most logical solution is to try it again but harder (at least that’s what the Keynesian think as they blame every depression on the government not spending enough money they don’t have).
Last week I brought up the idea that those whining about not being taxed enough should put their money where their mouth is and cut the state a check. You can also do it on a federal level if you so choose:
So, if anyone out there feels like Uncle Sam’s letting you off too easy, stop bitching and cut the Government a fucking check. Make it payable to “Bureau of the Public Debt” and send it to:
Bureau of the Public Debt
Department G
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188
There you go. If you think we aren’t being taxed enough cut your government a check for whatever amount you feel is appropriate. When you finally pay up I’ll start listening to you when you go on about not being taxed enough. Until then feel free to shut up and let the rest of us who don’t believe the government is doing a good job keep the money that is rightfully ours.
Linoge has a post talking about a person who faced charges for defending his property (the person was found not guilty thankfully). The defense of property is one of those debatable things in the gun community with many claiming it’s perfectly fine while others claim a gun is for defense of life not merely property. I think the remarks Linoge has in his post exemplify the fact that defense of property should be an acceptable thing.
This subject crashes head first into another topic of have a big interest in, economics. I find the philosophical concept of ownership rights to be very interesting as an argument can be made several ways. One of the arguments against ownership rights is the fact that all products produced have derived from natural resources that nobody can make rightful claim to. I would like to present a different argument, one that is in favor of ownership rights.
None of the ideas I’m going to present here are my own. Instead they are ideas that have been described by many libertarians and Austrian economists. The best description of these concept that I’ve found can be found in Murray Rothbard’s The Ethics of Liberty.
In the United States we have many rights described in our Constitution. These rights are protections from our government and arguments can be made against their universality (for instance a right to due process only applies in as society with a state and thus can not be considered a right deriving from nature). There is one right though that can be derived purely from human reason and can be considered the one right all others derive from; the right of self-ownership. Self-ownership can be summed up as the simple fact that you own you. Even if you are a slave you still are the owner of yourself which is why you can perform such actions as attempting to escape or even kill your capture.
As you own yourself you also own your labor. Of course you can trade your labor for the products of other people’s labor but you own your labor. There is a valid argument in stating nobody can lay claim to the natural resources found on this planet as they came into being without any human action. What can also be argued is that mixing your labor with natural resources gives you a rightful claim to those resources by the fact that you own yourself and thus your labor.
By mixing your labor with natural resources you have produced something that is consumable. This applies to everything from farm goods to automobiles. By mixing your labor with natural resources you have made something new, something more useful. As this new thing is a product of your labor it is valid to claim ownership rights to it as an extension of self-ownership.
These items can then be traded to other people for products of their labor. Going up enough rungs of the trade ladder we’ll create an economy. In this economy any property owned by a person will ultimately be a product of their labor either through production or trade (which is simply a voluntary exchange of ownership rights). Voluntary trade is the basis of the free market which the United States economy is very loosely based on.
What Linoge stated in his post can be derived from the right of self-ownership. When somebody takes your property they have taken a product of your labor and thus an extension of yourself. Working a job is an agreement between employer and employee where you trade your labor in exchange for another good (usually money). When somebody steals your television they haven’t just stolen the physical device but a product of your labor and thus have taken a part of yourself. As you have a finite amount of time to live the theft of labor can be considered the theft of the hours that the labor was being performed.
Using this progression of reasoned steps a conclusion in favor of property defense can be arrived at. When defending your property you are defending yourself in the form of your labor. When a thief deprives you of your property they are also deriving you of your life in the form of time you must spend in replacing said property. Even if you have theft insurance you must still use your labor to pay for that policy which would be unnecessary if it wasn’t for criminal elements.
So it’s not unreasonable to claim people should be allowed to defend their property with the same vigilance as they may defend their life. In the grand scheme of things both situations are really the same.
Today is the big day. It’s been one century since the United States military adopted the M1911. The 1911 was quite the revolution in pistol designs for its day. Very few tools can last 100 years with little need for redesign but the 1911 pistol is one of those few.
Although I could give a long list of things that are great about the 1911 you’ve likely heard them all before on other gun sites. Suffice it to say the pistol is still pure awesome 100 years after it’s adoption by the military. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 1911 is still around in another 100 years.
So here is to 100 years of excellence and the hope of 100 more.
Another thanks goes out to Every Day, No Days Off for bringing on the funny. Thanks to that site I came across some Historically Hardcare. All three posters are comedy gold but I think this one is my favorite:
Get your cakes made tonight because tomorrow will be the 100th birthday of the United State’s Military adoption of the Browning designed M1911. It still amazes me that a pistol designed a century ago is still not only relevant but flourishing. John Moses Browning sure made one Hell of a good design.
After reading this story I’ve come to the conclusion that some stereotypes exist for a reason. The stereotype in question? People in the south get into feuds over the damnedest things:
Associated Press news agency said Jerry Blasingame, 60, has been charged with assault for shooting Terry Tehnet, 52, with a shotgun.
Mr Tehnet was angry because he thought Mr Blasingame’s dog had defecated on his lawn, in a rural part of the state.
Mr Tehnet, whose injuries are not life-threatening, may also be charged.
Yes these two got into a firefight over one’s dog shitting on the other’s property. And it happened in Mississippi. Seriously guys you’re not helping the image of the South, United States, or gun owners. Next time listen to the advice of your local Sheriff:
Washington County Chief Deputy Sheriff Billy Barber said: “Homeowners and property owners need to respect each other’s property… If a dog did that in your yard, call the law. Don’t take matters into your own hands.”
This is comedy gold. MySQL.com’s database was compromised yesterday (at least that’s when the story was published) by somebody who used an SQL injection attack:
MySQL offers database software and services for businesses at an enterprise level as well as services for online retailers, web forums and even governments. The vulnerability for the attack, completed using blind SQL injection and targeted servers including MySQL.com, MySQL.fr, MySQL.de and MySQL.it, was initially found by “TinKode” and “Ne0h” of Slacker.Ro (according to their pastebin.com/BayvYdcP dump of the stolen credentials) but published by “Jackh4x0r”.
Oh delicious irony how I love thee.