Category: News You Need to Know

If You’ve Done Nothing Wrong You Have Nothing to Fear

Many police officers like to say if you’ve done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide. Another mutation of this phrase is if you’ve done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear. That isn’t really the case because there are numerous cases where people who’ve done nothing wrong end up being killed by the police. Sadly Jose Guerena was a victim of wrongfully aimed police aggression:

One of those homes belonged to 26-year-old Jose Guerena and his wife, Vanessa Guerena. The couple’s 4-year-old son was also in the house at the time. Their 6-year-old son was at school.

As the SWAT team forced its way into his home, Guerena, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, armed himself with his AR-15 rifle and told his wife and son to hide in a closet. As the officers entered, Guerena confronted them from the far end of a long, dark hallway. The police opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in about 7 seconds, at least 60 of which struck Guerena. He was pronounced dead a little over an hour later.

Many people who’ve mentioned this article to me are more than happy to point out that Mr. Guerena was at fault because he armed himself. The same people who claim that also fail to realize that this event was one of those no-knock entries where the police come busting in unannounced. Likewise it appears as though Mr. Guerena never got a shot off yet was hit with 60 bullets. I’d say that’s a bit more force than necessary when dealing with a person who probably believes his house is being stormed by a local drug gang (because most people expect police officers to announced their entry with a warrant in hand).

So what is the department involved with the raid doing to compensate the family of the innocent man they murdered? They’re trying to make excuses to avoid having to compensate the family and have the officers involved arrested and tried for murder:

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office has now changed its story several times over the last few weeks. They have issued a press release (PDF) scolding the media and critics for questioning the legality of the raid, the department’s account of what happened, and the department’s ability to fairly investigate its own officers. They have obtained a court order sealing the search warrants and police affidavits that led to the raids, and they’re now refusing any further comment on the case at all. When I contacted Public Information Officer Jason Ogan with some questions, he replied via email that the department won’t be releasing any more information. On Saturday, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told Arizona Daily Star columnist Josh Brodesky that he may never release the search warrants and police affidavits. Dupnik rose to national prominence earlier this year after claiming combative political rhetoric contributed to Jared Loughner killing six people and wounding 19 others, including Rep. Gabielle Giffords, last January.

The department’s excuses for keeping all of this information under wraps make little sense. In his May 18 press release (PDF), for example, Ogan wrote, “The investigation that lead to the service of the search warrants on May 5 is a complicated one involving multiple people suspected of very serious crimes. Sometimes, law enforcement agencies must choose between the desire of the public to quickly know details, and the very real threat to innocent lives if those details are released prematurely.” Dupnik used the same line of reasoning with Brodesky. “Those are the real sensitive parts of why we are having difficulty with trying to put information out publicly–because we don’t want somebody getting killed,” Dupnik said.

Let’s take a look at this whole War on Drugs situation for a second. Several decades ago the government decided that a list of substances were verboten for production, sale, and use in the United States. They did this earlier when they prohibited alcohol from being legally produced, sold, and used in the United States but apparently didn’t learn their lesson. Much like prohibition the War on Drugs has causes a massive increase in violent crime. The rate of violent crime is far in excess of what it was before the War on Drugs so it’s safe to say the use of these verboten drugs weren’t causing violent crime at any noticeable level.

What has this War on Drugs gotten us? A large increase in violent crime, numerous instances of police officers murdering innocent people, and yet another prohibition against free individuals making decisions about what they want to put into their bodies. Yet the War on Drugs continues to be parroted by our “representatives” as a needed intervention while their propaganda machine ensures a large majority of the populace approves of it.

Police Block Off North Side Minneapolis

For those of you unaware tornados touched down in the northern region of Minneapolis and caused some pretty major damage. The local police have basically blocked the region off and sent those living there packing:

Minneapolis police established an “exclusion zone” Monday for a section of the city’s tornado-stricken North Side, where only residents will be allowed entry once officials deem the areas safe.

The impact of Sunday’s tornado is also closing schools, rerouting traffic and sending hundreds of people to seek shelter from their damaged homes.

Basically the affected areas are basically under martial law with curfew in place and everything:

Although rumors of looting were largely unfounded, the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew that was first instituted Sunday night will remain for the next “couple of days,” Rybak said. The curfew is not only to deter potential crime but to keep people safe.

Remember citizen if you’re found outside of your home after curfew you will be shot or arrested depending on how the officer who find you feels at the time. I’m sorry but I despise government enforced curfews. They have no right to tell anybody when they can and can’t be in their home. If somebody wishes to walk around a dangerous area in the middle of the night that is their business and their business alone. Frankly I find it absolutely disgusting that government agents can keep your imprisoned in your home for whatever hours they deem fit regardless of any situation.

Those of you living in the areas affected by the tornadoes have my sympathies. You also have my sympathies for being subjected to government mandated removal of your rights.

An IP Address Isn’t a Person

A common method used by copyright holders to sue file sharers is to file John Doe lawsuits against IP addresses. This type of lawsuit has always been on shaky ground in my opinion and it appears as through a District Judge has decided that shaky ground was falling apart:

A possible landmark ruling in one of the mass-BitTorrent lawsuits in the U.S. may spell the end of the “pay-up-or-else-schemes” that have targeted over 100,000 Internet users in the last year. District Court Judge Harold Baker has denied a copyright holder the right to subpoena the ISPs of alleged copyright infringers, because an IP-address does not equal a person.

This is a great ruling because of the simple fact that having somebody’s IP address is in no way proof that said person was actually committing a violation against copyright holders. For example if you have an unencrypted or weakly encrypted wireless network it would be trivial for somebody to connect to it and start downloading movies illegally. When the copyright holders get a list of IP addresses that downloaded said movie illegally yours would be one on the list. Thus the lawsuit would be failed against the IP address holder, yourself. As you can see though just because the IP address traces back to you doesn’t imply any proof that you committed the crime. In fact this exact scenario has played out before:

In the case VPR Internationale v. Does 1-1017, the judge denied the Canadian adult film company access to subpoena ISPs for the personal information connected to the IP-addresses of their subscribers. The reason? IP-addresses do not equal persons, and especially in ‘adult entertainment’ cases this could obstruct a ‘fair’ legal process.

Among other things Judge Baker cited a recent child porn case where the U.S. authorities raided the wrong people, because the real offenders were piggybacking on their Wi-Fi connections. Using this example, the judge claims that several of the defendants in VPR’s case may have nothing to do with the alleged offense either.

This ruling is just but I bet money that a long process of appeals will be going down until VPR Internationale is able to buy find a judge more sympathetic to their crusade cause. For now though it’s good to see there is at least one judge out there with some common sense on this issue.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Unless you’ve been living under a very large rock you’ve probably heard this news already, Osama Bin Laden has been prounouced dead:

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said.

Bin Laden was killed in a ground operation outside Islamabad based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged last August.

Mr Obama said after “a firefight”, US forces took possession of the body.

Of course conspiracy theories will arise from this because instead of being smart and displaying the body apparently we decided to just discard it:

A US official quoted by Associated Press news agency said Bin Laden’s body had been buried at sea, although this has not been confirmed.

If that’s the fact I believe it was a very stupid move. Beyond that I really don’t have much to say on this subject. This is probably because I don’t see much changing. Most of the actions taken by Osama lead to reactions by our country that we will likely continue living; the PATRIOT Act, FISA, the TSA, a nebulous word on a tactic known as terrorism, the war in Afghanistan etc. In my opinion proper justice will not be served until we repeal many laws passed in the wake of 9/11 that stripped American citizens of many rights that our government was supposedly tasked with protecting.

Why I Don’t Run an Open WiFi Network

There are two things I’d like to do but don’t because some jackass taking advantage of my kindness could lead me to legal trouble. The first is run a Tor exit node. I love Tor and believe the benefits of having an anonymity network are great, especially in countries where the government works very hard to suppress free speech. Number two on my list of things I’d like to do but don’t is run an open WiFi access point. I would be more than happy to provide an access point for anybody to use if they need Internet access, especially if the people in need can’t afford Internet access themselves (my connection is a corporate account so my terms of service would easily allow me to do something like this). Sadly as Bruce Schneier points out the consequence of being a good Samaritan are often incredibly high:

The three stories all fall along the same theme: a Buffalo man, Sarasota man, and Syracuse man all found themselves being raided by the FBI or police after their wireless networks were allegedly used to download child pornography. “You’re a creep… just admit it,” one FBI agent was quoted saying to the accused party. In all three cases, the accused ended up getting off the hook after their files were examined and neighbors were found to be responsible for downloading child porn via unsecured WiFi networks.

Any traffic going through an open WiFi network or a Tor exit node traces back to the IP address of the person operating them. Thus if somebody uses them to do something illegal the ISP will see it as you doing that illegal act and you’ll have the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) storming through your door and probably shooting your kenneled dog.

My Investments Are Doing Well

It seems my investments are doing well:

In Hong Kong trade, gold hit a record $1,500.70 an ounce, which traders said was mainly due to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of its outlook on US debt.

Silver also touched a 31-year high of $44.34 an ounce.

When a country’s economy starts circling the toilet it’s common for those living in that country to seek an investment they can use to preserve their purchasing power. Sometimes this causes people to convert more of their wealth to another country’s money (for instance people in Zimbabwe moved to relying heavily on dollars and euros now that their country’s money is worthless). Another place to put money is in commodities.

Traditionally precious metals have done well in times of economic uncertainty. As uncertainty in fiat money increases the desire to place wealth into traditionally safe commodities increases. I’ve been investing in precious metals (mostly silver) for a while and have made pretty good bang on it. Well it would be more accurate to say it appears as though I’ve made pretty good bang on it but in truth I’ve mostly offset the effects of inflation and thus preserved my previous purchasing power.

With all that said it is likely that there will be a correction soon where the price of these metals will dip down. This is usually the smart time to buy because the prices will then continue to climb again. This is the trend that’s been going on for years at this point and will likely continue while the devaluation of the dollar continues.

Oh, and I was investing in precious metals way before Glenn Beck came on the air so don’t both accusing me of following him. I never even watched his shitty show.

Tax Day

Oh before I forget today is that day of the year where you have to submit the government’s paperwork for them so they know how much of your money they need to take by force. I already have my tax returns in and cashed (cash those checks immediately, you never know when the government is going to go all California and not be able to cash sent checks).

If you’re one to wait until the last minute to mail the paperwork I give you some credit for withholding your money from the government’s greedy hands as long as you can. On the other hand if you haven’t had the paperwork itself filled out… well congratulations you win the procrastination award.

Just Doing Their Job

It often surprises me when anti-gunners claim us mere civilians shouldn’t be allowed to carry firearms because we lack the skill and training possessed by the police. Why does this argument surprise me? Because most police officers receive lackluster training with firearms which makes shit like this happen:

Sherronda Aycox was devastated over the loss of her 8-month old blue pit bull Capone, and for what she and her neighbors believe was dangerous and irresponsible behavior by Camden Police.
…
Aycox says Capone darted out of the partially opened door and toward the officers several houses down, who, according to residents, shot and killed the dog.

Aycox says police investigators told her 33 rounds were fired.

It took the police 33 rounds to hit a dog. I guess this is why the Brady Campaign believes they need 33-round magazines while you and I don’t, it appears to be an attempt to compensate for the polices’ apparent lack of training. The problem with being inaccurate with a firearm in a populated area is the fact those stray bullets have to go somewhere:

The dog was hit and fell in one area, but the bullets sprayed elsewhere, shooting out the window of a van that several women were getting ready to get into. The women say there were children everywhere.

Neighbors say several other vehicles were hit, and the bullets pierced a nearby home, hitting a window and a wall inside.

In this case they went into home and vehicles. It sounds to me like those officers need to be fired and the remainder of the staff should be taking lessons on handling a firearm in a high stress situation.

Green as in Money

Yesterday I had the oil changed on my truck. I usually got to one of the Valvoline instant oil change places because then I can do it over lunch and as I live in an apartment complex I have no place to dispose of old oil thus it’s a pain in the ass to do it myself.

While they were changing my oil they did the usual attempt to up sell me on the synthetic oil. As usual I turned them down but then they tried to sell me on Valvoline’s new link of “green” oil. I shit you not, it was oil labeled as being more environmentally friendly and game in a green bottle. The guy claimed it had the same properties as regular oil and only cost $5.00 more. I politely informed him that I derive some pleasure off of irritating greenies and thus I’d stick with the non-green oil.

Either way I learned that greenies will pay extra for anything “green.” That’s great as the greenies get more green and the company making these “green” products get more green (money). Well I decided to look into this fancy new “green” oil and have come to the conclusion the “green” oil is actually recycled oil. I can tell you I’m already not a fan. Instead of putting new oil into my engine they’re trying to put reprocessed previously used motor oil into my engine… and they’re charing you more for the privilege! It’s a great little scam and I must applaud Valvoline’s marketing department for something up with such a great way to exploit environmental concern.

Coincidence, I Think Not

Tell me if you think my line of thought is correct on this. JP Morgan just reported $5.6 billion which they attributed to their credit card business. Unemployment has been up with the recent depression forcing people on government wealth-redistribution programs such as food stamps. Food stamps in the United States are no longer stamps but Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards which are actually just standard credit cards. JP Morgan is the company that issues and controls these EBT cards.

Anybody else getting a good idea where their record profits came from?