Month: September 2011

Some Good News Regarding Righthaven

Remember those assholes at Righthaven? Yeah the guys who were going around suing website owners for posting links to material whose rights were purchase by the lawsuit happy pricks. Well it looks as if their business strategy of suing everybody isn’t working out so well for them:

Despite its backing by the billionaire Warren Stephens family, Las Vegas copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC warned today it may have to file for bankruptcy because of a series of setbacks in its litigation campaign.

The warning came in an emergency request by Righthaven to a federal judge in Las Vegas that he stay his order that Righthaven pay $34,045 in legal fees to attorneys who successfully defended Kentucky message board poster Wayne Hoehn against a Righthaven lawsuit.

It couldn’t have happened to nicer people.

September 11

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Many people have written posts about the history of the attacks, the outrage and shock experienced during the attacks, those who entered the attacked towers to save everybody they could, and other incredibly touching articles.

I remember shortly after the attacks ads were playing on every television channel urging us to continue our lives as normal less the terrorists win. At the same times egregious attacks against our civil rights were being perpetuated by those in Washington D.C. through sickening legislation such as the PATRIOT Act, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and other laws that granted the government unlimited power to destroy anybody whom they labeled a terrorist. What’s worse is that these assaults against our civil rights continue to this day with the government using the excuse of terrorism to grab more and more power.

While we spend time remembering those who gave their lives trying to save others we should also take time to remember the aftermath of the attacks. Our government that is supposedly by the people for the people has taken every chance to turn our country founded on freedom into a police state. What’s even more sickening is that our government continues to increase its power over our everyday lives using the excuse of terrorism. After 10 years you would think our government could show some fucking respect for those who did in the 9/11 attacks and stop trying to turn our country into a new Soviet Union. Instead they continue to exploit those deaths in a rabid power grab.

While remembering those who perished during the 9/11 attacks also take a moment to reflect on the actions of our government since then. The terrorists initiated the attacks but our government exploited those attacks which is absolutely disgusting to think about even today. We should honor those whose lives were lose during the 9/11 attacks by working our damnedest to restroe the liberty this country was founded on.

Can I Have One Hobby the Media Won’t Shit All Over

Damn it media sources would you let me have one hobby without surrounding it with a bunch of fear mongering and demands that the hobby be tightly controlled and regulated (or banned)? Over the last several months I have become interested in lasers going os far as to design one that I plan on building later this month (from components, not from scratch). Recently Wicked Lasers released a 1W green laser (that doesn’t actually run at 1W from the reviews I’ve read) and it seems the media is already on the war path trying to demonstrate how dangerous these lasers are.

Apparently this 1W green laser is going to blind every astronaut and destroy every satellite. You know what other source of light exists that is actually far brighter than any laser? The damned sun! If satellites and astronauts aren’t being blinded by that giant fucking fusion reactor our humble little planet hurtles itself around once a year this little 1W laser isn’t going to do any damage to them either. A laser having to punch through an atmosphere isn’t going to be even remotely dangerous compared to the light given off by the sun traveling through vacuum.

The truth of the matter is that lasers of any notable power are much like firearms, dangerous if used improperly but a lot of fun and perfectly safe when used properly. Laser, like firearms, have safety rules that must be abided by and safety equipment that must be worn if you want everybody to remain safe.

Ultimately that means those wanting to partake in such hobbies must learn the rules involved. This is true with any hobby involving potentially dangerous equipment (firearms, lasers, wood working, racing, chemistry, horseback riding, etc.). Instead of expressing this fact the media decides that they must strike fear into the hearts of viewers, readers, and listeners by making shit up. This type of media fear mongering is what killed hobby chemistry sets, which used to be pretty awesome and included many chemicals that did potentially dangerous things (and thus were more fun for children wanting to learn chemistry). Similar fear mongering is what lead to innumerable laws being placed against firearms and ever continuing restrictions against shooting ranges (remember the lead from bullets will kill all the wildlife if we don’t shut those horrible ranges down).

Instead of drumming up unnecessary fear would you media outlets instead do something productive? For instance you could write a story warning about the dangers of a specific hobby and explain safety precautions that should be taken by participants. What am I thinking? Logic and help from the media? Next I’ll be asking for unicorns that fart rainbows and sunshine.

The Consequences of Fast and Furious Continue to be Revealed

Will you look at that, another violent crime linked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive’s (ATF) botched Fast and Furious operation:

In the second violent crime in this country connected with the ATF’s failed Fast and Furious program, two Arizona undercover police officers were allegedly assaulted last year when they attempted to stop two men in a stolen vehicle with two of the program’s weapons in a confrontation south of Phoenix.

Yet according to the government we need to enact stricter laws against the purchase of firearms on the American Mexico border even though the government itself is the one smuggling the guns.

Emperor Obama

The head asshole in Washing D.C. isn’t even trying to hide his delusions of emperorship anymore. From a live blog I was able to pull out parts of Obama’s speech he gave last night (because I certainly wasn’t going to waste my time watching that dumb ass like on television) and the following statement from him almost floored me:

What kind of country would this be if this chamber had voted down Social Security or Medicare just because it violated some rigid idea about what government could or could not do?

We’d have a country of law, opportunity, and liberty. I honestly can’t believe (OK I can believe it but I don’t want to) that an elected official would be so brazen as to openly state on public television that he doesn’t give two fucks what the laws say government can and can’t do. He might as well have flat out said, “Fuck the Constitution, I’ll do whatever the Hell I want and you stupid peasants are going to like it!”

What else did the chief asshole say? Well This quote was interesting:

Obama again stirs the pot with the GOP, noting that Abraham Lincoln – the first Republican president — also “mobilized government to build the transcontinental railroad; launch the National Academy of Sciences; and set up the first land grant colleges.”

He also mobilized a nation to invade another nation which killed hundreds of thousands of American citizens just so he could keep his petty little union in place. And the first person to say he did it to free the slaves can take a seat over in the corner because you get a timeout for not knowing your American history. If you actually read the Emancipation Proclamation you’ll note that it would have only freed the slaves in seceded states (not the Northern slave states) if they didn’t return to the Union by January 1863. It was a purely political move to coax the Confederate states into returning to the Union.

Our chief asshole also introduced his new legislation, the American Jobs Act, which he urged Congress to pass without reading just like he urged them to pass his Health Insurance Company Enrichment Act:

Some of you have sworn oaths to never raise any taxes on anyone for as long as you live. Now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise middle-class taxes, which is why you should pass this bill right away.

Emphasis mine. Personally I’d like our “representatives” to actually read the damned bill before taking any action. Likewise if that bill does anything besides getting the government out of the economy it will be pointless and shouldn’t be passed.

Obama should write a book titled I’m Above the Law: Why the Rules Don’t Apply to Me.

Department of Homeland Security Gives Warning About Nothing

The Department of Motherland Homeland security has issued a warning:

The US Department of Homeland Security is warning of a “credible threat” […]

Yeah the threat is called the Department of Homeland Security and it’s directly attacking our liberties every day. At least that’s what I’m assuming the warning is over because those in government aren’t saying:

Giving no specific details, a statement said: “It’s accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information.”

This warning isn’t credible as it’s the government issuing it. Unless we’re just supposed to trust the lying bastards that something may happen… perhaps… possibly. With how much lying they’ve done so far how are we supposed to take them seriously on anything, especially when they don’t provide any evidence.

The real terrorists are already here working in the government. Since the attacks on September 11th, 2011 the civil rights Americans are supposed to enjoy have been eroded to a point of nonexistence. Everything you do that the government disapproves of is labeled terroristic activity and your name is tossed onto a secret list if you’re caught partaking in one of these unapproved activities (or if they just feel like tossing your name on because it’s a secret list and us serfs aren’t privy to information regarding how one gets placed on the list).

Instead of constantly trying to drum up fear it would be far more efficient if our government simply started a war with Eastasia and made every American participate in Two Minutes Hate on a daily basis.

Wristwatches

I believe I’m one of only three people left on the plant who still wears a wristwatch regularly. For several years now I’ve been sporting a rather awesome Tissot T-Touch stainless steel watch. For anybody who is unaware of the T-Touch line (which I expect is most everybody) it’s a wristwatch with a built in compas, chronometer, alarm, altimeter, barometer, and thermometer. Why do I need all of that in a watch? Because it’s there!

Sadly the butterfly clasp on the band finally broke. As a guy who spends a great deal of time shooting I know the drill when something breaks; find out what broke, find out what part you need, search online for somebody who has the part, and finally have it shipped to your home. I’m learning that wristwatches are nothing like that. Due to the way the band attaches to the physical watch I can’t just go to any jewelry store and get a new band (I’ve already tried that). Even the authorized Tissot dealer in my area couldn’t repair it but instead gave me the number of the United States repair center for Tissot. It seems the only place on the planet to get wristwatch parts is from the manufacturers.

So it looks like my only option is to call the repair center and hope to Thor they will simply send me the part I need instead of making me send the watch in. As it sits right now I have no watch and thus am rather confused when somebody asks me what time it is. I wasn’t aware of how much I depend on a wristwatch in my daily life until now.