Month: November 2012

The State Will Rob Anybody

It doesn’t matter to the state if you’re black or white, rich or poor, young or old they will rob you:

An anti-piracy company has found itself in the middle of a huge controversy. CIAPC, the company that had The Pirate Bay blocked by ISPs in Finland, tracked an alleged file-sharer and demanded a cash settlement. However, the Internet account holder refused to pay which escalated things to an unprecedented level. In response, this week police raided the home of the 9-year-old suspect and confiscated her Winnie the Pooh laptop.

That’s right, the state has confiscated a 9 year-old girl’s Winnie the Pooh laptop because she was suspected of piracy. I doubt a 9 year-old even knows what online piracy is let alone what intellectual property laws are.

Know Your History Palestine and Israel Edition

Something that gets lost in most national conflicts is that every story has two sides. In the United States and much of the European world only one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is presented. We’re expected to believe that Israel is the benevolent angel who spread all good things throughout the Middle East while Palestine is the satanic demon who spreads plague and destruction. Whenever the two nations get into a pissing competition everybody blames Palestine or Hamas and never even acknowledges that possibility that Israel plays a great part in the hostilities.

I’m not going to spend a great deal of time discussing the conflict, instead I’m going to present Wikipedia articles that cover the history of Israel and Palestine. Why Wikipedia? I know people like to dismiss anything on Wikipedia as horribly inaccurate but it’s generally a decent source of information for topics that aren’t horribly controversial. While the conflict itself is controversial the history of what has occurred generally isn’t. Furthermore Wikipedia free and generally cited making it more useful to link to than books. It’s almost guaranteed that somebody will dismiss everything I’m about to link to as being inaccurate because it doesn’t fit their view of reality. If that’s what you want to do so be it, I’m posting this information primarily for the sake of those looking to do some reading on the precursors to recent events.

Events occurring today were really put into motion after World War I. In the aftermath of World War I the region we now know as Palestine was put under control of the British who had defeated the Ottoman. From the beginning things didn’t go well as the Arab and Jewish populations of Palestine didn’t like each other. The animosity between both peoples eventually lead to the United Nations (UN) looking at splitting Palestine into two states.

The UN Partition Plan wasn’t well received by Palestine’s Arab population. Even though the major of Palestinians were Arab the UN Partition Plan would grant the Jewish state 56 percent of the land, including two thirds of the coastline and sole access to the Red Sea. Granting the smaller Jewish population the majority of Palestine was justified by claiming that extra territory would be necessary for the immigrating Jewish population. As one can expect the Arab population didn’t like this plan and opposed it, claiming that the plan was not in the best interest of the majority of Palestinians (who were Arab).

Ignoring the Arab’s opposition the UN voted in favor of the Partition Plan, after some underhanded tactics were used to guarantee votes. This sparked the Arab-Israeli War. Internal conflict between the various involved Arab nations eventually lead Israeli to victory and they claimed ownership over the areas delineated by the UN Partition Plan.

Fast forward to 1967 when the Six Day War broke out. The Six Day War was a conflict between Israel and a coalition consisting of Jordan, Syria, and the United Arab Republic (what is now called Egypt). By the end of the war Israel seized the West Bank, Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gaza Strip. Israel implemented an Iron Fist strategy where it ruthlessly suppressed Palestinian nationalism. Needless to say a Palestinian uprising was inevitable and it happened 1987 as the First Intifada in Palestine began.

The First Intifada was a campaign consisting primarily of nonviolent actions including civil disobedience, general strikes, and boycotts of Israeli products with some violence thrown in for good measure (you can’t have a peaceful revolution without some asshole throwing a Molotov cocktail). Israel responded to the First Intifada by killing over 1,000 Palestinians and arresting 120,000 more. Intra-Palestinian violence claimed the lives of some 1,100 Palestinians so they still managed to kill more of their own people than Israel did.

Relations between the Palestinians and Israelis didn’t improve. A Second Intifada began in 2000. Unlike the First Intifada, which relied heavily on nonviolent actions, the Second Intifada was marked with violence conflicts between the the Palestinians and Israelis. During this conflict the Israelis implemented a strategy of destroying homes of Palestinians. When a member of a family performed a violent attack against Israeli forces the Israelis would demolish the entire family’s home. Most people would state that this action is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention but Israel says it’s perfectly legal because Palestine isn’t a recognized state (apparently the Israelis believe only recognized states are protected by the Geneva Conventions). Regardless you can see how the strategy of destroying homes could create some hard feelings with Palestinians.

In 2006 Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election and Israel responded by blockading the Gaza Strip. This brings us to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. The blockade is seldom discussed in the news and when it is there are very few details given. Israel’s blockage of the Gaza Strip includes restrictions on travel and severe restrictions on what goods can enter the region. Foodstuffs, tin cans, crayons, musical instruments, and all manners of construction materials are on the blacklist. It’s not hard to see how resentment could develop under such sanctions. When you can’t even get basic construction materials such as concrete into your region things are not going to go well, especially when homes are being bulldozed. Israel also maintains a naval blockade that restricts both importing goods and fishing (fishing is only allowed 3 nautical miles from shore).

To understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of today one must look to the history of the conflicted region. What I’ve provided here is a bare minimum thumbnail overview of what has lead to the current conflict. My goal was to give you launching points to start your research. Whether you want to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a black and white issue or as shades of gray is your business. I just feel the vast simplification that is generally presented by modern news outlets is a disservice and needs to be corrected.

Adding Fuel to the Fire

As if things weren’t bad enough in Israel and the Gaza Strip the United States had decided to send Hillary Clinton to the region:

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — President Barack Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Middle East on Tuesday as the U.S. urgently seeks to end a conflict between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 100 in the last week.

Sending Hillary Clinton as an envoy of peace is like sending the Grim Reaper as an envoy to a pro-life rally. I mean this is the same lady that actually laughed at Gaddafi’s death:

The State’s War Against the Homeless Continues

When the state’s not busy creating new homeless individuals it’s waging war against them. Continuing in this fine tradition Nevada City now requires individuals to obtain a permit before becoming homeless:

A police chief says he’s found a one-of-a-kind way to manage a growing problem in his city, and it’s putting the homeless on the hot seat.

A new law would give Nevada City the power to hand out permits to a small group of homeless, which would give them permission to sleep in public. While the new ordinance would give some homeless a place to stay, it would tell others, mostly the troublemakers and the criminals, to stay away.

I’m not sure what message the police chief is trying to send. Homeless people, by definition, are relegated to sleeping in public places. They don’t have homes and generally can’t afford to pay rent on even a modest apartment. What is a homeless person without a permit supposed to do?

It’s ideas like this that make me rage whenever somebody claims that the state helps the poor. How is forcing homeless individuals out of major metropolitan areas helping them? At most it makes those individuals somebody else’s problem. Lawmakers and law enforcement agents don’t even stop and think long enough to determine if the rules they’re making and enforcing are logical. Telling a homeless person they can’t sleep in public is like telling paraplegic to get up and walk around.

Horologist Beware When flying

Horologists of the world take note that attempting to fly while wearing a watch that looks too odd may land you in jail:

Geoffrey McGann, 49, of Rancho Palos Verdes was taken into custody Thursday night after he tried to pass through airport security with an ornate watch that had switches, wires and fuses, according to Sgt. J.D. Nelson, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

A bomb squad arrived within five minutes and determined there were no explosive materials in the watch, Nelson said. The checkpoint was closed while officers secured the area.

McGann was taken to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin where he was charged with possessing materials to make an explosive device, sheriff’s officials said. He was still in custody Friday night and could not be reached for comment.

What really gets me about this story is the fact the fucking bomb squad determined there were no explosive materials but the wearer was still arrested for possessing material to make an explosive device. That makes no sense. Scratch that, that makes less than no sense. What we have here is negative sense.

We do live in a world where a man can be held in a secret prison for possessing a very popular model of wristwatch (which I now own) so it shouldn’t surprise me that somebody can be arrested for wearing any other watch. But when the bomb squad says there are no explosive materials you would think the man would have been arrested for something other than possessing materials to make an explosive device. Perhaps he could have been charged for unwarranted lawful behavior or not disturbing the peace.

The Ever Hypocritical Barack Obama

Barack Obama certainly had a taste for hypocrisy:

“Let’s understand what the precipitating event here that’s causing the current crisis and that was an ever-escalating number of missiles that were landing not just in Israeli territory but in areas that are populated, and there’s no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders,” Obama said at press conference in Thailand at the start of a three-nation tour in Asia.

Emphasis mine. This is coming from a man who rains missiles down on Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. Does that mean he would support the countries he’s bombing in defending themselves against the United States by sending missiles into its borders? Something tells me he would not.

The Futility of Gun Control

I no longer fear gun control because I recognize its futility. Firearms are relatively simple mechanical devices and home manufacturing capabilities continue to advance. An example of this advancement in home fabrication are 3D printers. Using various materials 3D printers are able to build parts from the ground up. Another person has demonstrated that commonly available 3D printers can be used to manufacture AR-15 lowers. Since lowers are the registered part of the firearm and therefore the only part you need to buy from a federally licensed firearms dealer (unless you live in a state that allows private sales such as Minnesota) you can effectively build an AR-15 that the state has no knowledge of.

Gun control advocates can push for “assault weapon” bans all they want but their efforts are entirely wasted. “Assault weapons,” like any firearm, can be manufactured with readily available tools. Because of this the only way one can even begin to enforce a prohibition against any type of firearm is to perform periodic inspections of every building in the United States (and even that won’t be effective since manufacturers will merely create hidden rooms just as people did during Prohibition to bypass alcohol control laws.

Obama and Civil Liberties

Supporters of Obama likes to praise his advancement of civil liberties. Unfortunately such claims are entirely false as Obama has been busy eroding civil liberties since taking office:

Most troubling, however, is the state of our freedoms. Indeed, during Obama’s first term, our civil liberties were utterly and completely disemboweled. The great irony, of course, is that this happened with a self-proclaimed constitutional law professor at the helm—a man who was supposed to understand and respect the rule of law as laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

Not only did Obama continue many of the most outrageous abuses of the George W. Bush administration (which were bad enough), including indefinite detention and warrantless surveillance of American citizens, but he also succeeded in expanding the power of the “imperial president,” including the ability to assassinate American citizens abroad and unilaterally authorize drone strikes resulting in the deaths of countless innocent civilians, including women and children.

The article goes on to cover 17 of the more egregious civil liberties violations that have occurred under Obama’s watch. What’s interesting is considering how many people make political decision in this country. During 2004’s presidential race many of John Kerry’s supporters expressed outrage over Bush’s wars and civil liberties violations. They brought up the wars in the Middle East, the PATRIOT Act, Guantanamo Bay, and numerous other despicable situations caused by the Bush administration. When McCain ran against Obama in 2008 Obama’s supporters were brining up Bush’s actions again and claiming McCain would continue down the path to tyranny.

Fast forward to today. Obama has proven to be another George W. Bush. Since taking office in 2008 Obama has continues the polices put into place by the Bush Administration and added some of his own including signing a bill that grants the president the power to indefinitely detain American citizens without trail. You would think Obama’s supporters would have turned against him during the 2012 presidential race but he managed to maintain a great deal of support. How could a man who ran on a platform of civil liberties and undoing the tyrannical policies of the Bush administration continue to have the support of his 2008 followers? Simple, a majority of voters in the United States care more about teams than issues.

Most Americans have pledge allegiance to one of the two major political parties. While some of these party loyalists may periodically vote for somebody on “the other team” to convince themselves that they’re not party shills they generally vote party lines. If “their guy” doesn’t support their issues they’ll concoct reasons to support him. I saw some rather interesting concoctions during the 2012 race from both sides of the political fence. Those who were expressing support for Romney claimed he would support gun rights (even though his has a history of doing otherwise) and fix the economy (which a president has no ability to do). People on the other side of the fence claimed Obama would bring forth a new era of gay rights (which he’s shown no intention of doing) and ensure healthcare would be available for all (which he won’t). One of my Obama supporting friends even implied that people opposing Obama were racists.

Nothing will be changed in this country through the political system. As George Carlin pointed out the public sucks:

When people are more concerned about which party gets into office than finding solutions to the problems facing people there’s now hope of improving things. So long as people care more about “their guy” getting into office than stopping the wars, fixing the economy, and defending civil liberties the wars will continue, the economy will languish, and civil liberties will keep eroding. American voters have spoken and they resoundingly said they want “their party” in power regardless of his policies.