Category: News You Need to Know

Hillary Clinton Shows the Value of Hosting Your Own E-Mail

Republicans and statist libertarians have been losing their shit over the news that Hillary Clinton continued using her private e-mail address while acting as Secretary of State and hosted that e-mail address on a server in her home:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The computer server that transmitted and received Hillary Rodham Clinton’s emails — on a private account she used exclusively for official business when she was secretary of state — traced back to an Internet service registered to her family’s home in Chappaqua, New York, according to Internet records reviewed by The Associated Press.

[…]

Most Internet users rely on professional outside companies, such as Google Inc. or their own employers, for the behind-the-scenes complexities of managing their email communications. Government employees generally use servers run by federal agencies where they work.

In most cases, individuals who operate their own email servers are technical experts or users so concerned about issues of privacy and surveillance they take matters into their own hands. It was not immediately clear exactly where Clinton ran that computer system.

I highly doubt Hillary personally administered the server (although I would be impressed if she did). A person as influential and wealthy as her can afford a dedicated system administrator. However that isn’t relevant to this story. What is relevant is the reason her political opponents are losing their shit. It was a brilliant move that protected her privacy:

WASHINGTON — In 2012, congressional investigators asked the State Department for a wide range of documents related to the attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The department eventually responded, furnishing House committees with thousands of documents.

But it turns out that that was not everything.

The State Department had not searched the email account of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton because she had maintained a private account, which shielded it from such searches, department officials acknowledged on Tuesday.

Everybody bitching about this needs to take a step back and understand the important lesson here. Hosting your e-mail on a server you personally control, one that is under your physical supervision, is a smart fucking move. By doing so she was able to avoid providing personal information to the State Department when it was investigating the Benghazi attack. If she could shield her personal information from a government investigation then you can as well!

The nice thing about hosting your own e-mail server is that you have complete control over it. You can delete all e-mails that are over six months old and verify that those deleted e-mails have been purged from all backups. Investigators can’t get what doesn’t exist no matter how many warrants and subpoena are issued. If your e-mail is on a third-party host you cannot verify that data has been removed from both your system and the hosting provider’s backups. Another benefit is that it’s impossible for the state to use a National Security Letter (NSL) to secretly obtain a copy of your e-mails. The only way the state can get copies of your e-mails from a self-hosted server is to either break in and copy them or order you to provide the data. Either way you stand a very good chance of knowing when the state has copied your data.

So ignore the partisan politics because they’re meaningless. If if those e-mails were obtained by investigators Hillary would have been found innocent of all wrongdoing. That’s a privilege of being a member of the oligarchy. What is meaningful is that she did something very intelligent and there’s no reason you can’t do the same (even if you don’t have the knowledge necessary to host an e-mail server you can learn).

My Nomination for the New Face of the $20 Bill

Since 1928 Andrew Jackson’s face has adorned the $20 bill. A group of individuals believes it’s time for a change up and they want to see a woman’s face replace Jackson’s. I’m all for this. There’s a good reason people were lining up to kill Jackson and those reasons really should have disqualified him from appearing on our money. But the people behind this movement, sadly, have created a list of approved women. Approved lists don’t sit well with me but of the women listed I would say Harriet Tubman deserves the honor. She holds a special place in my heart for breaking the law by helping runaway slaves get to the safety of the North.

With that said, I’d like to present another nomination: Anne Bonny. The reason I want to nominate her is because she embodies the American dream. Like so many her family fled their home country of Ireland in the hopes of finding a better life in the new world. She suffered setbacks before her father made it big but was then later disowned by him. Not one to let the dream of success fall to the wayside she and her husband pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and set course for Nassau. For those of you familiar with Nassau during the 1700s it had another name: the Pirates Republic. Anne made a life for herself by joining the elite ranks of pirates. In so doing she declared herself outside the rule of the state and took up a far more honorable source of work than any politician.

For far too long our money has immortalized despots and tyrants. I think it’s we adorn our money with more respectable faces.

Gabrielle Giffords Just Forfeit the Right to Arguing in Favor of Gun Control

For some time now Gabrielle Giffords has been one of the more vocal advocates of gun control. While I don’t agree with her opinion I do feel she has a justifiable reason to hold it since she was shot in the head during a failed assassination attempt. At least I felt that she had a justifiable reason until today. The Navy just launched a new warship named the USS Gabrielle Giffords:

A Navy warship named for the former Arizona congresswoman hit the water for the first time Thursday, Giffords announced on Twitter.

The U.S.S. Gabrielle Giffords entered the river outside Austal Shipbuilding in Mobile, Ala., as workers placed finishing touches before its August launch, a picture showed.

This ship has a pretty decent array of weaponry including a 57mm cannon and four .50 caliber guns. Obviously, as a woman who takes a stern stance against violence, Giffords is outraged by the fact that her name is attached to a war machine, right? It doesn’t appear so:

I guess guns are bad unless they can take out a sizable chunk of real estate with a single shell. Hypocrisy like this really annoys me. As somebody who was the victim of a politically motivated attack I would think Giffords would take a stand against the primary use of naval warships, politically motivated attacks. If I were in her position, heck even without being in her position, I would be offended to have a warship named after me.

Eddie Ray Routh is Sentenced to Life in Prison

Eddie Ray Routh, the man who murdered Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison:

The case went to the jury on Tuesday after a prosecutor said in his closing arguments that Routh, 27, acted coldly and deliberately in a deadly ambush of the pair at a Texas gun range in February 2013.

Only two and a half hours later, Routh was back in the courtroom, standing motionless as district judge Jason Cashon informed him that after their deliberations – including eating dinner and picking a foreperson – the jury of 10 women and two men had unanimously found him guilty of capital murder for killing the subject of the blockbuster film American Sniper and his friend on a rural shooting range a little over two years ago.

I can’t help by think that this case may have gone differently if one of the victims hadn’t been elevated to near godhood by a successful book and movie. Let’s review the events that lead up to the murder. Kyle and Littlefield took Routh to the shooting range supposedly to help him with his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to the linked story Kyle referred to Routh as being “straight-up nuts”. So Kyle and Littlefield gave a weapon to a man they knew suffered from mental disorder in an environment that has enough elements to simulate a battlefield that it could trigger somebody suffering from combat-related PTSD. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say they hold some responsibility for what happened to them.

This is an especially important thing to note as the gun rights community begins to bang on the mental health drum. It’s probably not a wise idea to hand a person you know to have a mental illness that could result in violent behavior a weapon. If you are going to do so then you probably should watch that person like a hawk at all times.

I honestly believe giving this man life in prison is overboard. My opinion may differ if he wasn’t put into the environment by individuals who knew he suffered from a mental illness that could result in violent behavior. But he was put into that environment and the people who put him there knew he suffered from PTSD.

But I don’t think any of this mattered the second Kyle was elevated to the status of hero and received his own day of recognition in the very state that the trail was taking place in.

Why I Self-Host

For many years this site has been hosted on a server sitting in my dwelling. I did this in part for educational purposes, hosting your own site does teach you a lot about server administration. The other reason I did this was so I could be free of any third-party’s terms of use agreement. While many hosts; including my original one, WordPress.com; have very permissive use agreements those agreements are subject to change. Google just announced a major change to its use agreement that will leave some blogs reeling:

TORONTO — Google is cracking down on adult content posted to its popular Blogger service.

The company started notifying users on Monday that they have until March 23 to delete “images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity.”

Google said it will not delete existing blogs that haven’t been purged of explicit content by March 23 but warned it will set them to “private” — meaning only the user and people with whom he/she has directly shared the blog will be able to view it.

I don’t host any adult content on my site but I do discuss firearms, anarchism, and other subjects that can be unpopular with many companies. It isn’t impossible to imagine a host decided it doesn’t want to allow anybody to use its service to discuss weapons or how terrible statism is. But since I host this site on my own server I don’t have to worry about such bullshit!

Military Worshiping Social Conservatives Upset with the Military

Last week was not a good week for military worshiping social conservatives. They were dealt a major one-two punch. First it was announced that Chelsea Manning would receive property medical treatment while sitting in a cage for doing the right thing:

In a first for the Army, Chelsea Manning, the convicted national-security secrets leaker, has been approved for hormone therapy for transition to a woman at the Army’s Fort Leavenworth prison, according to a memo obtained Thursday by USA TODAY.

Military worshiping social conservatives are predictable creatures. While they tend to be very open with their bigotry they don’t like people perceiving their motives as being purely bigoted. So it’s not surprising that the first criticism they made against this decision was that tax dollars will be used for Manning’s treatment. What they failed to point out is that part of the benefits package received by enlisted personnel is healthcare. Even if a soldier is declared a traitor and condemned to rot in a cage they must still receive proper medical care for whatever medical conditions they have. Since hormone replacement therapy is considered a medically necessary treatment for gender dysphoria the military should be providing it to transgender soldiers. Providing hormone replacement therapy to a transgender individual is the same as providing anti-depressants to an individual suffering from depression.

The second criticism the military worshiping social conservatives came up with is the Army’s policy of treating transgender individuals like shit. But this is where the second blow came. The Army has decided to improve its policy regarding transgender soldiers:

The decision to discharge transgender soldiers from the Army now has to be made by a top, senior civilian official, documents obtained by USA TODAY show, a move that will make it more difficult to remove such troops from the service.

Instead of being made by lower-level Army officers, the undated memorandum says the decision to discharge transgender soldiers must now by made by the assistant secretary of the Army for personnel. In all services, transgender troops can be automatically dismissed from service on medical grounds once they are identified.

This isn’t exactly a stellar step forward but it is an acknowledgement by the Army that its policies are in need of improvement. While it does please me that the Army is considering treating transgender soldiers better I fear it’s only because it is concerned that it won’t have enough meat for the grinder in coming years. But nefarious motives aren’t grounds enough for my to condemn an improvement in policy so I will nod my head to the Army for this small change and laugh as its worshipers flip their shit.

Sometimes You Need to Have Conversations Like Responsible Adults

Sometimes I stupidly wade into the cesspool of Reddit’s libertarian community. I’m not sure why I do this. Maybe it’s to remind myself why most people view libertarians as raging assholes or maybe it’s because I periodically have to be reminded that the shitty side of humanity exists in every political movement. It really doesn’t matter why I do it. What does matter is that by doing it I sometimes come up with interesting material to write about. Reddit’s libertarian community recently discussed California’s affirmative consent law. With the understanding that libertarians will take a skeptical view of any law I figured this discussion would end up being fairly interesting. Instead it ended up being fairly cringe inducing.

Rape cases are difficult because they often fall into the realm of he said, she said. Did the drunken college woman consent to having sex with the drunken college man? Can a person who is blackout drunk consent? How can somebody tell if another person is too drunk to consent? What about the bad breakup between two partners. Did one partner accuse the other of rape simply to get back at them? Was one partner abusing the other? These are difficult situations to deal with and there really is no single correct answer.

But to read through the comments in the linked thread you would think every woman is just waiting for that opportunity to have drunken sex with a libertarian man so she can accuse him of rape the next day. Therefore the only legal option left under affirmative consent laws is a notarized contract signed by all parties engaging in a sexual act. And we know that’s ridiculous so this law means every man who has sex will be accused of rape and go to jail because the law no longer offers a man any defense against such an accusation.

Let me provide an alternative to a notarized signed contract: discussing sex like an adult. This may blow a lot of minds but you can actually discuss sexual activity with people. Is your significant partner OK with the two of you having sex when you’re drunk? Discuss it. Will your sexual partner consent to being choked? Discuss it. Does that random woman you want to fuck also want to fuck you? Discuss it. Sex shouldn’t be treated as some kind of taboo subject. In all likelihood reasonable adults will act reasonably when discussing matters.

I know what some people are asking, “But Chris, what if we’re both super drunk and want to fuck? We can’t possibly discuss sex like responsible adults if we’re drunk!” If you play a dangerous game be willing to accept the possible consequences (this is another part of being an adult). I’m not a puritan or a prude by any stretch of the imagination. However I am capable of realizing that involving myself in drunken sex with a stranger is risky behavior. It’s not just because I could later be accused of rape, that’s actually pretty far down my list of concerns in such a situation. Since I don’t know the other person’s medical history I have to worry about contracting a sexually transmitted disease. There’s also the possibility of pregnancy (I know, I know, use protection but we’re talking about making stupid decisions in an inebriated state). If you don’t want to face the risks inherit in having drunken sex with a stranger then don’t have drunken sex with a stranger. It really is that goddamn simple.

Libertarianism is supposed to be about voluntary interaction. A lot of questions arise about the ability of an inebriated person to consent so it’s best not to wait until the person is inebriated to discuss a matter. This goes for everything from buying a used car to fucking.

There are other corners cases in rape cases. As I mentioned above, rape often boils down to he said, she said. But for 99% (percentage pulled out of my ass to illustrate a large majority of cases) of situations discussing sex like responsible adults will have you covered. You won’t need to worry about notarized contracts signed in blood. For that other 1% of situations the specific wording of the law isn’t going to help you.

Montana Passes Law Allowing Terminally Ill Patients to Tell The FDA to Pound Sand

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ultimate control over what drugs and medical technologies are allowed to be used in the United States. Because of the expense of getting FDA approval the drug and medical technology markets (at least the legal ones) are almost entirely monopolize by extremely wealth and established companies. Getting FDA approval also requires a very long and drawn out process, which means the United States lags many other countries in medial technology (but medical tourism gives people in the United States access to better technology). What’s especially stupid is that the FDA doesn’t even allow terminally ill patients, people with literally nothing to lose, to try unapproved drugs or medical technologies that may save their lives. Montana appears to be the first state to recognize the absurdity of this. It recently passed a law that would allow terminally ill patients in Montana to tell the FDA to pound sand:

On Monday, the Montana State Senate unanimously passed a “right to try” bill, which would allow terminally ill patients to ignore federal restrictions on experimental treatments and drugs. Too often, patients who cannot be cured by conventional treatment are denied the ability to try new options thanks to onerous regulations by the FDA.

It’s about time somebody did this. There is absolutely no reason why a terminally ill patient shouldn’t be able to try any and all means available to them to save their own life. I would even go a step further and say a person has the right to try any drug or medical technology they want regardless if they’re terminally ill or not. It’s your body so you should be free to do with it as you please. But this is at least a step away from the fucking ridiculous, which is appreciated.

With All of This Surveillance Equipment the Police Couldn’t Find a Lone Man

Yesterday in St. Louis Park the police came into altercation with a man sleeping in his car in a Byerly’s parking lot. Apparently one of the employees of the store went to scope the man out, noted a gun on the front seat, and call the cops. As usual the situation escalated for a man sleeping in his car to a gunfight. Somehow the man escaped the parking lot and the mother of all manhunts (for Minnesota anyways) began:

Police soon converged on a home in the 700 block of 8th Avenue S. in Hopkins where the suspect used to live, and ordered anyone inside to come out.

Resident Ryan Coplan said his girlfriend was there alone when officers “came on bullhorns with, ‘Whoever’s inside, come out with your hands up!’ ”

Coplan, who said he moved in less than a year ago, said his girlfriend later called him and said the officers had “guns drawn, searched the house and went on their way.”

With all of the fancy license plate scanners, Stringray cell phone interceptors, and other surveillance gear the police have proven wholly incompetent at finding this single man. This just goes to show that pervasive surveillance networks are worthless when it comes to actually finding a suspect.

As an aside you almost have to feel bad for the police in this case. They ended up raiding the wrong address. If only there was some way to verify when somebody has moved out of a dwelling. Something like a Post Office notice of change of address, a lease or title to the property, or a billing account with the new address. But since none of that exists the police ended up having to harass an innocent women because she made the mistaken of living where a future criminal lived.

Nipping the Sauron Problem in The Bud

Zero tolerance police in schools have lead to some very interesting suspensions. One student was famously suspended for eating a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. Another student was suspended for drawing a firearm. And we all probably remember the student who was suspended for making a gun with his fingers. But it seems these zero tolerance policies have reached a new absurdity. A student in Texas was just suspended for claiming to have the One Ring:

Tolkien lore led a Texas boy to suspension after he brought his “one ring” to school.

Kermit Elementary School officials called it a threat when the 9-year-old boy, Aiden Steward, in a playful act of make-believe, told a classmate he could make him disappear with a ring forged in fictional Middle Earth’s Mount Doom.

We’ll have none of your shenanigans little Sauron! At this point I can only guess what the next zero tolerance suspension will be. Perhaps a student will be suspended for bringing Mjölnir to class. Or maybe a student will get suspended for bringing a cardboard Excalibur. Now that students are being suspended for mythical weapons the options are limitless!