Month: October 2014

The NRA Gave Me Cancer

I have a lot of issues with the National Rifle Association (NRA) but, in general, I believe the organization means well. Gun control advocates, on the other hand, view the NRA has the direct spawn of Satan. Anything that goes wrong in the world is, according to the gun control loons, the direct fault of the NRA. For example, did you know that the Ebola crisis is the fault of the NRA? I’m not joking on this one. Gun Free Zone linked to an article that would be absolutely hilarious if the author wasn’t being serious:

Every day brings more details about the first case of the Ebola virus to be diagnosed in the U.S. And while experts say there is essentially no risk of a significant outbreak here in the states, much of the public remains worried. A poll by Harvard found that 39% of U.S. adults are concerned about a large outbreak here, and more than a quarter fear someone in their immediate family could get sick with Ebola.

If only there was someone around who could educate the American public about the actual level of risk. Someone who was trusted as a public health expert and whose job it was to help us understand what we really need to worry about and what precautions we should take.

Actually, that is one of the primary responsibilities of the United States surgeon general. There’s just one problem: Thanks to Senate dysfunction and NRA opposition, we don’t have a surgeon general right now. In fact, we haven’t had a surgeon general for more than a year now — even though the president nominated the eminently qualified Dr. Vivek Murthy back in November 2013.

So the fear of Ebola is directly caused by the NRA because it somehow, through its Illuminati connections I’m sure, has prevented a surgeon general from being appointed and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is totally not telling people that the likelihood of Ebola spreading in the United States is remote.

Although I’m accustomed to gun control loons blaming the NRA for everything wrong in the universe this accusation takes matters to an entirely different universe. First of all I can’t remember any previous surgeon general dispelling fears about previous epidemics such as the yearly flu that was always slated to kill us all. As far as I know the person who filled that position has never even put a dent in the mass media’s rampant fear mongering. Additionally I’m not aware of the NRA having connections to the Illuminati, Bilderberg, Rothschilds, lizard people, or any other group conspiracy theorists such as the author of the linked article are so accustomed to claim is pulling the strings behind the scenes. If the NRA did have such connections I would imagine, as a member, I’d see some pretty stellar benefits.

Really all there is to do about this accusation is point and laugh. It’s downright nutty. In fact it’s probably nuttier than many of Alex Jone’s insane ramblings. Next week I’m sure the author will have a fascinating investigative piece that will determinate that the NRA is headed by Literally Hitler.

Here’s Some Compromise

Most people have probably heard that Apple is no long able to bypass a device’s encryption and Google has announced the same feature will appear in the next release of Android. Anybody with a modicum of intelligence is glad to hear this but there are a few dipships who think this is a bad feature. Take this fool for example:

How to resolve this? A police “back door” for all smartphones is undesirable — a back door can and will be exploited by bad guys, too. However, with all their wizardry, perhaps Apple and Google could invent a kind of secure golden key they would retain and use only when a court has approved a search warrant. Ultimately, Congress could act and force the issue, but we’d rather see it resolved in law enforcement collaboration with the manufacturers and in a way that protects all three of the forces at work: technology, privacy and rule of law.

So a police back door is undesirable but Apple and Google could perhaps implement a police back door. Idiot. Do you know what I think about that idea? This is what I think about that idea:

fuck-you

That’s right, fuck this guy and his idea. There is no magical security mechanism that can allow only legitimate bypasses. If there is a back door then it can, as a matter of fact, be abused. Even if malicious third parties were unable to access the system it would still be ripe for abuse by law enforcement agents, which have a notable history of abusing power.

Here’s my idea for a compromise. Apple and Google should not implement any back door and in return law enforcement agents can deal with the fact that they can’t access our personal data on our devices. How’s that for a compromise?

Upcoming Minnesota Carry Day Events

This year the Twin Cities Gun Owners and Carry Forum is host two Minnesota Carry Day events. The first event, which takes place on October 11th, will be held at Zylstra Harley Davidson in Elk River, Minnesota:

minnesota-carry-day-2014-elk-river

The second event takes place on October 18th and will be held at St. Paul Harley Davidson in, as the name implies, St. Paul, Minnesota:

minnesota-carry-day-2014-st-paul

Both events are free to attend and will have information sessions scheduled throughout each day. The information sessions will cover more than gun-related stuff. For example, both events will have a self-defense session aimed at kids and sessions on non-lethal self-defense.

Double Rainbow

A double rainbow!

double-rainbow

What does it mean?

Turns out it means that your goddamn sword has arrived from Japan.

iaito-1

I’d apologize for the shitty photo but I never claimed to be a photographer. Just know that the picture doesn’t do the actual sword justice.

And I’m just going to take the double rainbow in front of the UPS store as a positive sign because the surprise $25.00[1] Fish and Wildlife clearance certainly wasn’t. Fun fact, my sword was delayed for a day due to a Fish and Wildlife hold:

fuck-you-fish-and-wildlife

On the upside, thanks to the fine men and women in charge of fish and wildlife, I am now sure that my three foot metal stick isn’t some kind of fish or other form of wildlife. I only needed to have my package delayed for one day, be required to pick up my package at the UPS office, and pay $25.00 to get that assurance. Talk about a deal!

Seriously, shit like this is why I’m an anarchist.

[1] Here’s a fun fact. The UPS office only accepts money orders of personal checks. If you show up with cash or a credit card you won’t be able to pay your brokerage fee.

Never Trust a Cop

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has a valuable lesson for us: never trust a cop. OK, I’m putting words into the EFF’s mouth. But after it uncovered something nasty in a software package being given out to parents by police departments under the auspices of protecting the children I think my sentiment is fair:

Police chiefs, sheriffs, and district attorneys have handed out hundreds of thousands of copies of the disc to families for free at schools, libraries, and community events, usually as a part of an “Internet Safety” outreach initiative. The packaging typically features the agency’s official seal and the chief’s portrait, with a signed message warning of the “dark and dangerous off-ramps” of the Internet.

As official as it looks, ComputerCOP is actually just spyware, generally bought in bulk from a New York company that appears to do nothing but market this software to local government agencies.

The way ComputerCOP works is neither safe nor secure. It isn’t particularly effective either, except for generating positive PR for the law enforcement agencies distributing it. As security software goes, we observed a product with a keystroke-capturing function, also called a “keylogger,” that could place a family’s personal information at extreme risk by transmitting what a user types over the Internet to third-party servers without encryption. That means many versions of ComputerCOP leave children (and their parents, guests, friends, and anyone using the affected computer) exposed to the same predators, identity thieves, and bullies that police claim the software protects against.

That’s right at least 245 agencies spanning 35 states have been giving parents a malware package under the guise of Internet safety software. Parents who were suckered into installing it got to enjoy a keylogger sending everything typed on the computer across the Internet. Adding insult to injury the transmitted keystrokes weren’t even encrypted. I’m sure the National Security Agency (NSA) has an erection because of this.

It’s unlikely that every police departments that was peddling this software is directly at fault here. They were probably naive and got suckered in by the company that, as the article points out, used fraudulent endorsements to encourage police departments to buy its software. But the bottom line is still that the departments were distributing malware, which demonstrates that they don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to software and therefore shouldn’t be trusted with such matters.

I said that not every police department is directly to blame. There is one department headed by a real asshole that is directly to blame. That department is the Limestone County Sheriff’s Department. After this news broke the Limestone County sheriff, Mike Blakely, decided that the EFF’s claims were incorrect. In fact he had some pretty harsh words for the EFF:

Sheriff Blakely said, Computer Cop is spyware designed for parents to watch and protect their kids but said the system has been vetted.

“We have had the key logger checked out with our IT people. They have run it on our computer system.” He said. “There is no malware.”

Blakely referred to the EFF criticism politics as an “Ultra-liberal organization that is not in any way credible on this. They’re more interested in protecting predators and pedophiles than in protecting our children.”

You read correctly. According to Sheriff Blakely the fucking EFF, the organization that has a long and proud history of fighting for the rights of computer users, isn’t credible on this. Furthermore he claims that the organization is interested in protecting predators and pedophiles, which would be a laughable claim if it wasn’t obvious that Blakely is trying to poison the well.

If what he said is true, if his department did check out the software, then it is directly at fault for knowingly distributing malware to unsuspecting parents. Were I a parent that received a copy of ComputerCOP from the Limestone County Sheriff’s Department I would seriously consider filing a lawsuit.

Bombing Made Easier

Some time ago Obama declared stricter criteria for deciding who was going to get bombed and who wasn’t. This declaration was made under the auspices of reducing civilian casualties. That was then. This is now:

The White House has acknowledged for the first time that strict standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply to U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq.

A White House statement to Yahoo News confirming the looser policy came in response to questions about reports that as many as a dozen civilians, including women and young children, were killed when a Tomahawk missile struck the village of Kafr Daryan in Syria’s Idlib province on the morning of Sept. 23.

This is why you don’t give any credence to anything politicians say. They will tell you what you want to hear and even pass regulations that make it look like they’re giving you what you want but when those regulations hinder their desires they will vanish in a puff of smoke. Keep this in mind when a politician promises you something because that promise is empty.

I wonder if Obama wears his Nobel Peace Prize when he orders bombings just for the irony.

A Tip For Those Who Wish To Be Bigots

The more comments I read on various gun blogs the more I realize that there are a lot of bigoted assholes who read gun blogs. Talk about disappointment. As Caleb at Gun Nuts Media pointed out, a lot of gun owners lose their shit when anti-gunners insinuate that we’re all violent psychopaths but then go around and insinuate that Muslims are all violent psychopaths. And if you read through that link’s comments you’ll see his statement confirmed.

It’s obvious that a lot of people in the shooting community are dead set on being bigoted assholes. Fine. Who am I to tell them otherwise? But if they’re going to be bigoted assholes I would appreciate it if they at least understood a very important point: Muslims don’t share a hive mind and Islam isn’t a single undivided religion. Many of the people being bigots against Muslims are Christians, which is kind of ironic when you look at the history of Christianity. Between the Crusades and Inquisition the Church killed a whole heap of people. When I point this out the usual response is that the Church isn’t representative of Christianity, which is why so many different sects exist. Guess what, Islam is the same. There are many different sects of Islam.

The two major well known sects are the Sunni and Shia. But there are other sects as well including Ahmadiyya, Kharijite, and Quranism. Just as there are Catholic, Lutheran, and Presbyterian Christians there are many different sects of Islam. So when you insinuate every Muslim is a member of one big group you are demonstrating your ignorance and your ignorance is probably why you’re a bigot. Let’s look at the current boogeyman, the Islamic State (IS). If you listen to many people in the shooting community you would believe that the IS represents all of Islam. It doesn’t. The IS is part of the Sunni sect of Islam. Specifically it is part of the Salafi sect, which many Sunni clerics consider to be part of the Wahhabi sect. In other words the IS considers itself Sunni but not every Sunni agrees. In fact many Muslims disagree with the IS so strongly that they’re shooting its members.

So if you really feel the need to be a bigoted asshole please at least realize that Muslims aren’t bees, they don’t exhibit a hive mentality. It may even surprise you to know that Muslims are people and like all other people they exhibit individualistic behavior.

That concludes this public service announcement. Feel free to go about your day.

Jeff Johnson is a Dick

I’ve been doing my best to avoid wasting your time with the current off season election. While politics really isn’t my thing these days I do feel the need to chime in from time to time. This post is dedicated to Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for the Minnesota governor’s race. As this is a gun blog I will point out that Johnson has been enjoying decent support for local gun owners because he pays lip service to the Second Amendment and he’s not Mark Dayton (probably more the latter than the former).

Here’s the problem with Jeff Johnson, he’s a dick. As evidence to support my accusation I present the following:

Johnson, who first proposed reinstating capital punishment for some violent crimes during his unsuccessful bid for attorney general in 2006, said he still supports it.

Admittedly I don’t have much support to give but the second a politician says he supports having the overt power of life and death over his subjects he loses all of my support. Consider the position Johnson is running for. A governor traditionally has the power to exempt people from the death penalty after being sentenced to it. Additionally the death penalty gives the courts an option to outright execute people. This is a major problem when you consider the number of death row inmates who were later acquitted or had the charges otherwise dismissed.

While locking people in a cage is pretty nasty, death is final. Improvement in forensic technology is responsible for many acquittals. As the technology continues to improve it’s likely more people will be found wrongfully convicted. If those people are in a cage they can at least be let out and allowed to live some kind of life. On the other hand if those people are executed there’s not a damn thing that can be done if they’re later found innocent.

Guilty verdicts don’t necessarily mean the convicted is guilty. Knowing this the fact that Johnson supports reinstating the death penalty in Minnesota makes him wholly unworthy of being in a position where he can potentially make it happen. It’s none of my business what master you pick but I discourage you from picking one that wants the organization he is trying to lead, the State of Minnesota, to have the power to overtly murder its subjects.

Behold the Ghost Gunner

Many gun rights advocates complain that anarchist don’t do anything to advance gun rights. While they’re pander to politicians, attend meetings, and advocating for or against legislation they see us not doing so and assume we’re just sitting around with our thumbs up our asses. But we work smarter, not harder. With the realization that any political gain can be reversed down the road we look for ways to bypass the political machinery altogether.

One of the anarchists on the forefront of the gun rights battle is Cody Wilson. He brought us the first notable 3D printed handgun. Now he’s bringing us a milling machine designed specifically to produce AR lowers:

When Cody Wilson revealed the world’s first fully 3-D printed gun last year, he showed that the “maker” movement has enabled anyone to create a working, lethal firearm with a click in the privacy of his or her garage. Now he’s moved on to a new form of digital DIY gunsmithing. And this time the results aren’t made of plastic.

Wilson’s latest radically libertarian project is a PC-connected milling machine he calls the Ghost Gunner. Like any computer-numerically-controlled (or CNC) mill, the one-foot-cubed black box uses a drill bit mounted on a head that moves in three dimensions to automatically carve digitally-modeled shapes into polymer, wood or aluminum. But this CNC mill, sold by Wilson’s organization known as Defense Distributed for $1,200, is designed to create one object in particular: the component of an AR-15 rifle known as its lower receiver.

Gun control is irrelevant in a world where anybody can manufacture a firearm. And that’s the goal, make politics irrelevant by utilizing technology:

Wilson’s goal of enabling anyone to privately fabricate an untraceable gun is part of a larger anarchist mission: To show how technology can render the entire notion of government obsolete. He’s spent the last two years developing firearms designed to be printed as easily as ink on a page, neutering attempts at gun control. “This is a way to jab at the bleeding hearts of these total statists,” Wilson says. “It’s about humiliating the power that wants to humiliate you,” he says.

Why beg masters for scraps from the liberty table when you can build your own liberty table and eat as much as you want? A popular agorist saying is “Agora! Anarchy! Action!” In it’s even on a poster

agora-anarchy-action

The keyword is action. Anarchists, I would argue, have a tendency to directly take action over the statists’s tendency to ask others, specifically politicians, to take action. We prefer to get our hands dirty, which is necessary when you’re working for radical change. I do wish politically active gun rights activists well but if the political atmosphere starts looking bad again us anarchists will ensure that any guns banned by the state are readily available to as many people as possible.