Month: August 2014

What Happens When a Blind Def Man Uses the Internet

I’m lead to believe Paul Waldman is both blind and def. Why is this? Because he doesn’t believe libertarians are speaking up about what’s going down in Ferguson, Missouri:

The shooting death by police of Ferguson, MO teenager Michael Brown, and what has happened in the aftermath, has been blanketing the news for the past few days. It’s a story about race, but it’s also become a story about the power of the state and how it’s wielded, and against whom.

So my question is this: Where are the libertarians?

[…]

You would also have thought that libertarians would be using the police reaction to the protests over Brown’s killing as a case study in the needless and dangerous militarization of the police.

Can Mr. Waldman really be this naive? After all, he works for the same damned publication as Radley Balko who has been covering this story on the Washington Post. Prominent libertarian magazine Reason has also been covering this story. The front page of the Libertarian subreddit (which I wouldn’t call overly libertarian but it’s libertarian enough for Mr. Waldman) is filled mostly with articles about this story. So what the Hell is Mr. Waldman prattling on about? Well, as you will soon see, he isn’t actually asking about the libertarians. He’s asking about Rand Paul:

But there has been a near-total silence from prominent libertarians on this issue. Senator Rand Paul, right now America’s most prominent libertarian (yes, I know, some don’t consider him a real libertarian), hasn’t said anything about the case — no public comments, no news releases, nothing on Twitter, nothing on Facebook.

Mr. Waldman is correct in that some don’t consider Rand Paul a real libertarian. For example, Rand Paul doesn’t consider Rand Paul to be a real libertarian. So it’s dishonest to say he is America’s most prominent libertarian when the man doesn’t consider himself a libertarian. This just goes to show that if you narrow the field enough you can make up whatever claim your heart desires.

If Mr. Waldman can’t find the libertarians discussion this story he needs to overcome his own laziness, pick up his phone, and call his coworker Mr. Balko up.

Everything I Want is a Human Right and Should be Free

Economic ignorance has lead to widespread belief in many silly things. For example, people believe that war is good for the economy because it creates manufacturing jobs. Frédéric Bastiat explained why this belief was bullshit in 1850 with the parable of the broken window. Another silly belief many people seem to have is that there is such a thing as free. This belief has become especially commonplace now that everybody equates anything they want as a human right and therefore should be provided for free.

The latest case of this belief being proliferated is tampons. I’m not kidding. This article, which argues that tampons should be free, has been making the rounds on the Internet and many people have deemed it to be a good idea:

We need to move beyond the stigma of “that time of the month” – women’s feminine hygiene products should be free for all, all the time.

Sanitary products are vital for the health, well-being and full participation of women and girls across the globe. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch, for example, have both linked menstrual hygiene to human rights. Earlier this year, Jyoti Sanghera, chief of the UN Human Rights Office on Economic and Social Issues, called the stigma around menstrual hygiene “a violation of several human rights, most importantly the right to human dignity”.

[…]

But this is less an issue of costliness than it is of principle: menstrual care is health care, and should be treated as such.

We’ve come full circle. Since so many people believe that healthcare is a human right and therefore must be provided to all for free anything that can be somehow tied to healthcare should likewise be provided to all for free. But nothing is free. Everything good requires resources. First raw resources must be collected, which in of itself requires energy. Then those raw resources must be refined into something useful for the manufacturing of capital goods, which also requires energy. After that those capital goods must be further refined into something consumers can us, which requires more energy. Energy itself is a resource as is time and basically everything else that touches the manufacturing process.

The bottom line is somebody has to invest the resources necessary to produce a good. When somebody says they believe something should be free what they really mean is that everybody in the world should be forced to set aside a portion of their resources to manufacture that “free” product. To further simplify the matter when somebody says they believe something should be free what they really mean is that everybody else should pay for it.

Now the people who want free shit usually use very utilitarian arguments. This article, for example, points out that approximately half of the population of this planet can utilize tampons. I’m going to one up that. What is an activity that every human being does that can negatively impact sanitation? Shit! Therefore I propose something different. Instead of “free” tampons I propose “free” toilet paper for all! Obviously I’m joking since I’m not economically illiterate and I’m not such an asshole that I want government violence brought against you so I can get something for “free”. But I believe my point has been made.

Armslist.com not Responsible for Murder Committed with Weapon Obtained via Site

There has been a lawsuit open against Armslist.com because an individual obtained a weapon from a person who advertised it on the site and used it to commit murder. Much to the dismay of gun control advocates Armslist.com has been declared not responsible for what happened:

The case decided Tuesday by the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals concerns a woman murdered in 2011 with a .40-caliber handgun that a Seattle man advertised on Armslist for $400. A Canadian man bought the weapon.

Demetry Smirnov, the gun purchaser, murdered Jitka Vesel in Chicago with that weapon after an online romance soured. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. The man who sold him the gun, Benedict Ladera, was handed a year in jail for illegally selling the firearm, as federal regulations prohibit the transfer of weapons to people in another state or country, the appeals court said.

There is no other way this case could have been ruled in a logical universe. It isn’t possible for one individual to know the intent of another individual just like it is impossible for a third-party to know the intent of two individuals who happen to use its services. Claiming that Armslist.com was responsible for what happened would be no different than claiming Google was responsible for a murder because the weapon used was traded between two individuals via Gmail.

Of course there are a lot of gun control advocates who believe otherwise. Their belief stems solely from the fact that they want to see fire and brimstone brought down upon anybody who is in any way involved with a firearm (except for their armed guards, of course). There is no logical argument for such a position though, it’s merely the product of a desire for petty hatred. Fortunately the 7th Us Circuit Court of Appeals understood this and save another business from unnecessary legal burden.

Freest Country on Earth

Yesterday the police of Ferguson, Missouri were telling news reporters to get the hell out. Some of them didn’t listen and decided to exercise their press rights and were duly arrested:

Two reporters covering the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri were arrested and physically assaulted by police on Wednesday.

Ryan Reilly, the justice correspondent for The Huffington Post, and Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery were working in a McDonald’s when a SWAT team suddenly invaded the restaurant. After being told to stop recording the proceedings, and refusing, both men were then violently arrested. (Recording police officers is a legal act.) Lowery was shoved into a soda machine. An officer slammed Reilly’s head against glass.

In defense of the brave men and women of the Ferguson SWAT team the reporters were told to get the hell out yesterday. Since they didn’t listen the city’s heroes did what they had to do to make a point: beat the fuck out of the reporters and throw them in a cage. That will teach those disobedient reporters what the First Amendment is all about!

What’s ironic is that the biggest criticism people wield against anarchy is that it would be a state of perpetual chaos where the strong prey on the weak. The reason that criticism is ironic is because we currently live in a society that has a state that creates perpetual chaos and preys on the weak. What is happening in Ferguson right now is the product of statism. A gang of thugs working for the state are able to beat people with impunity, even those who supposedly have a legal right to report on the disturbance, because they are soldiers of the state and have shiny badges pinned to their chest that grant them legal immunity. This is why I don’t take that criticism seriously.

Tesla Taking Car Security Seriously

One of the neat and odd things I saw in the Defcon vendor area was a Tesla car. This is especially true when talks about hacking cars are given regularly:

The guys in that video are awesome presenters by the way. As it turns out Tesla was at Defcon preciously because it doesn’t want to be featured in one of these videos:

Tesla is one of the only household corporate names with an official presence this year at Def Con, an annual security conference held in Las Vegas, where attendees try to hack the hotel elevators and press room. The company is here courting hackers who can help it find holes in the software that controls its cars. It’s looking to hire 20 to 30 security researchers from Def Con alone, Ms. Paget says. Moreover, hackers who report bugs to Tesla get a platinum-colored “challenge coin.” If they show up at a Tesla factory and give the security team a heads-up, they get a free tour.

This is something I’m happy to read about. Computer security in the automotive industry, like the medical industry, is seldom considered. I’m not surprised by this fact since security costs time and money, which means it’s only considered after products have been fallen to widespread exploitation. Your computer and smartphone are only as security as they are (which isn’t to say they’re very secure but they are veritable fortresses compared to systems from earlier days) is because corporate and personal computers have been the targets of an almost uncountable number of exploits. Each industry seems destined to experience these same mistakes instead of learning from other industries that have already done so. Tesla, on the other hand, is acting more like a smartphone company in this regard by taking security seriously enough to hire people dedicated to ensuring its cars’ computers are at least somewhat secure.

This will pay off in the long run for Tesla. As vehicles become more integrated with technology they are going to become bigger targets for malicious attackers. If automotive manufacturers don’t nip this in the bud now they’re going to suffer many years of lawsuits related to their lack of on-board computer security.

Great Organic Fair Trade Conflict-Free Product For Sale

I must say that I love the Internet. If there is a want out there somebody on the Internet will eventually serve it. For example:

At the more extreme end of socially progressive marketing strategies used by online dealers are those that involve the promotion of drugs on the basis of supposedly “ethical”, “fair trade”, “organic” or “conflict-free” sources of supply.

The story is talking about cocaine and opium, not coffee. This shouldn’t surprise anybody since hipsters need their fix as well. I’m greatly amused by the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) managed to shutdown the original Silk Road and were rewarded by a notable increase in website selling unpatentable drugs. Now the online drug dealers are marketing to hipsters, which probably means they are making a nice premium (if Whole Foods is any indicator hipsters are willing to pay quite a bit more for the same product with the words “fair trade”, “organic”, or “conflict-free” on the label).

Hidden services have no only reduced violence in the drug trade but now they’re ensuring more drug users’ needs are met.

Freedom of the Press Means the Freedom to Shut Up and Obey

Welcome to America where the freedom of the press is ensconced in our Bill of Rights. What freedoms does the press have? For starters it has the right to shut the fuck up and do what its told:

While there was a spate of looting on Sunday night, Monday’s demonstrations were peaceful. Protestors faced tear gas and rubber bullets from officers trying to break their ranks up. At the same time, police told local media to get out of the area.

Of course after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared all airspace up to 3,000 in Ferguson feet a no-fly zone it’s not like the press was going to get helicopters in to cover the unfolding events. Living in a totalitarian state is fun!

Defcon 22 Recap

I’m back from my vacation. Where did I go? Well:

at-the-podium-at-defcon-22

That’s me at the podium in Track Two giving a rousing presentation about the need for hackers all around the world to use their skills to break into and sabotage government all government networks. Just kidding. That picture of me was taken by a friend when we gained access to Track Two after it was locked up for the night.

Defcon 22 was a blast. Things started off on a good foot when the room I had booked at the Palms was unavailable so they had to upgrade me to a better room for free. The room had living room separate from the bedroom and two bathrooms. It was a shame to have such a nice room and not spend much time in it but Defcon itself was packed with things to do. I got in line for my badge a few minutes before eight and proceeded to slowly make my way towards the registration desk for the next two and a half hours. During that time I made a few friends and learned some interesting things. After obtaining my fancy electronic badge I attended a handful of talks and met up with some friends.

Friday, when Defcon really begins, was packed with great talks. Defcon was also packed with people. I felt as though the number of attendees this year was at least 50 percent higher than last year (later I talked to a goon who said that the number of attendees wasn’t actually that much higher than last year but agreed that it felt much higher). As usual the convention was an exercise in controlled chaos. The villages proved to be interesting but the Social Engineering Village didn’t have nearly as much space as it needed and the Hardware Hacking Village was shoved off into a corner that was only accessible by going through the competition area. New this year were the Crypto Village and the Industrial Controllers Village. I walked through the latter but didn’t spend much time in it. The Crypto Village was interesting as they had some excellent presentations. It was there that I learned the Fifth Amendment doesn’t protect your biometric data. While you may be protected from giving the police the decryption key for your hard drive you cannot refuse to give your fingerprint (at least under the Fifth Amendment, technically you could refuse to do so until they decided to murder you). So securing your data with a fingerprint probably isn’t the best idea (I’m looking at your iPhone 5S users).

During the evening a few friends and myself hung out in Track One where several electronic music performers were doing their thing. One of the groups to play was Anamanaguchi. Their album sounds like it was made on an old Nintendo Entertainment System, which is pretty cool. But their live performance didn’t, which was disappointing. I still had fun though likely thanks to the alcohol.

Saturday was basically Friday all over again. Lots of good talks and fun things to do. During the evening a few friends and I went to Hacker Jeopardy. In years prior there was a woman on stage who would remove an article of clothing whenever a team got a Double Jeopardy question correct. That wasn’t the case this year. This didn’t surprise me too much since Defcon does get a lot of flak for being a sexist event (and much of that flak is justifiable). After Jeopardy we went to the party out by the pool. That started off pretty poorly since the girl performing was, well, fucking horrible. So my friends and I found ourselves in Track One again where the music was a marked improvement.

Sunday, being the last day of Defcon, was much more somber. Most of us were exhausted from back-to-back all-nighters. A couple of Sunday’s talks were very interesting. Deviant’s talk about elevators was fascinating. The closing ceremonies were as usual (which for me means kind of boring) except for the announcement at the end. Defcon 23 will be held at the Paris and Bally’s casinos. I’m not sure whether we outgrew Rio or if Rio simply refused to renew our contract. Hosting Defcon is kind of a pain in the ass since things all over the hotel get compromised and I could see the Rio simply refusing to renew our contract. Either way a new venue will be nice since Rio felt too small.

Defcon 22 was a blast. The only thing that wasn’t a blast was the flight home. Red eye flights aren’t fun and I don’t like touching ground in Minnesota at 05:30. Getting to bed at 07:30 is not my idea of a fun time. But that’s a pretty minor thing to complain about. I can’t wait for Defcon 23.

I’ve been completely out of the loop since Wednesday so I don’t have any other posts prepared for today. Catching up on a week’s worth of news and events isn’t easy, especially when your sleep schedule has been thoroughly fucked up by a red eye flight. Normal posting should resume tomorrow.

680,000 Names on the Government’s Various Terrorist Watch Lists

When the government announced the Terrorist Screening Database (TSD), which is the source for the various terrorist watch lists, most people probably assume that it would only contain a handful of names. After all, if the government had evidence that somebody is a terrorist they would arrest them, right? Wrong. As it turns out there are 680,000 names in the TSD and almost half of them aren’t believed to be affiliated with any known terrorist organization:

Nearly half of the people on the U.S. government’s widely shared database of terrorist suspects are not connected to any known terrorist group, according to classified government documents obtained by The Intercept.

Of the 680,000 people caught up in the government’s Terrorist Screening Database—a watchlist of “known or suspected terrorists” that is shared with local law enforcement agencies, private contractors, and foreign governments—more than 40 percent are described by the government as having “no recognized terrorist group affiliation.” That category—280,000 people—dwarfs the number of watchlisted people suspected of ties to al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah combined.

Now we know for a fact that the database has nothing to do with people affiliated with known terrorist organizations. That means everybody is a potential terrorist. What’s even funnier (in a sick sort of way) is that the man who promised to save us from George W. Bush’s police state is responsible for most of the names appearing in the database:

The documents, obtained from a source in the intelligence community, also reveal that the Obama Administration has presided over an unprecedented expansion of the terrorist screening system. Since taking office, Obama has boosted the number of people on the no fly list more than ten-fold, to an all-time high of 47,000—surpassing the number of people barred from flying under George W. Bush.

This is why I laugh every time somebody tells me that we live in the freest country on Earth. Only a police state could have a list 680,000 names long of suspected enemies. I wonder if getting on the list qualifies an individual as a potential drone target.

The Next Front in the State’s War Against the Homeless

That state has been waging an ongoing war against the homeless for decades. The reasons for this are obvious, the homeless don’t have anything for the state to steal so the state would rather the homeless be wiped out. Fortunately for the homeless genocide is frowned upon but that doesn’t mean they’re safe. Most major cities have made the acts of being homeless and aiding the homeless crimes. The next front in the state’s war is criminalizing sleeping in vehicles:

The ban on sleeping in your car or truck is a downright trend with the number of laws criminalizing the action exploding by 119 percent since 2011 — a growth rate higher than any other anti-homeless law.

Sleeping in your car is illegal even in progressive cities such as Minneapolis. In Palo Alto, where rent is two and half times the national average and there are only 15 shelter beds to accommodate a homeless population estimated at 150 people, the city has made sleeping in “one’s own private vehicle a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail,” the report’s authors wrote.

What I took away from this article is that being homeless is a crime and you don’t own your car. Of course nobody is allowed to own any property in this country. We are only allowed to possess certain items for limited periods of time. The second you fail to pay property taxes on your home you lose it. If a cop has decided that there may have been unpatentable drugs in your car they get to take it under civil forfeiture laws. Owning a firearm is a privilege that will be taken from you the second you commit a felony, which almost all of us commit daily. And now many cities won’t let you sleep in your car without threatening to take your money (and probably your car) and tossing you in a cage because some people who sleep in their car are homeless and the state wants to make the lives of the homeless miserable.