Tag: I do not Have a Tag That Properly Describes My Disgust

Just When I Thought the State Couldn’t Get Anymore Depraved

I’ve ran across enough stories demonstrating the depravity of the state that I could probably write a several volume set on the subject. Sadly as I continue to get older I keep getting reminded that giving power over others to an entity with a “legitimate” monopoly on the initiation of force is the worst idea humans have ever come up with. Very recently I was introduced to North Carolina’s eugenics program:

The Eugenics Board of North Carolina (EBNC) was an agency of the U.S. state of North Carolina created in 1933 after the state legislature authorized the practice of eugenics by state officials four years earlier.

In 1971, an act of the legislature transferred the EBNC to the newly created Department of Human Resources (DHR), and the secretary of that department was given managerial and executive authority over the board. Under a 1973 law, the Eugenics Board was transformed into the Eugenics Commission. Members of the commission were appointed by the governor and included the director of the Division of Social and Rehabilitative Services of the DHR, the director of Health Services, the chief medical officer of a state institution for the feeble-minded or insane, the chief medical officer of the DHR in the area of mental health services, and the state attorney general. In 1974 the legislature transferred to the judicial system the responsibility for any sterilization proceedings against persons suffering from mental illness or mental retardation.

The Eugenics Commission was formally abolished by the legislature in 1977.

The board sterilized about 7,600 people, many of them against their will, between 1929 and 1974, in an attempt to remove mental illness and “social misbehaviour” from the gene pool. Among the victims were 2000 young people, some as young as ten years old.

North Carolina wasn’t the only state to practice eugenics but they were one of the few to continue the practice late after World War II and they had some of the loosest criteria for determining who would be sterilized and who wouldn’t. The justifications for sterilization ranged from mental retardation to simply not getting along with classmates:

People as young as 10 in North Carolina were sterilized for not getting along with schoolmates, being promiscuous or running afoul of local social workers or doctors. The state’s law, which allowed such professionals to refer people to the state Eugenics Board for sterilization, was more open-ended than similar statutes in other states, where people had to be jailed or institutionalized before they could be sterilized.

Just stop and think about this for a minute. Several states enacted laws that allowed them to sterilize people they deemed unfit to breed. Such laws gave some government bureaucrat the authority to make a permanent change to the life of another human being against their consent.

I honestly can’t fathom how such a system was ever considered acceptable by anybody. But programs like this and others that were even worse were implemented not just by some tyrannical dictator in fascist countries but also by states right here.

Many victims of North Carolina’s eugenics programs are currently fighting to get compensation from the state. Compensation from the state is really a slap in the face because the state is just returning money that they first stole from you in the form of taxes. Basically you get to pay yourself for wrongs enacted upon your person by the government. Likewise monetary compensation will never allow the victims of sterilization to have children so ultimately no justice will prevail.

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.

Your Tax Dollars at Work Illegally Experimenting on American Citizens

I came across a really interesting article on Wikipedia titled Unethical Human Experimentation in the United States. Many of these experiments were government initiated and funded which is rather frightening.

A couple of the most interesting reads are the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and Project MKULTRA (which isn’t just some conspiracy theorist malarkey, but an actual series of CIA experiments that later lead to a congressional hearing). It’s worth taking some time out of your day and reading through these because some of them are almost unbelievable.

Senator Boxer Trying to Abolish Shall Issue and Constitutional Carry Laws

Let me just say this right away, fuck you Barbara Boxer and fuck all of you who voted for her. Seriously you can all just go sodomize yourselves with retractable batons. Why am I so angry at her and her supporters? Because she is trying to pass a federal law, S.176, that would abolish shall issue and constitutional carry laws throughout the United States.

The bill, references as the Common Sense Concealed Firearms Permit Act of 2011, would strip each state of their right to issue carry permits however they saw fit. It would make all states may issue. And of course anybody applying for a permit would have to “demonstrate good cause.” You want my good cause? The second amendment. Need another? My right to self-defense granted by the fact I exist.

Those of you in California may want to makeup for your mistake of sending Boxer to D.C. You can do this by starting a recall election. I think there is grounds for that being she just introduced legislation that would completely ignore the United States Constitution and the entire concept of states’ rights. If you do recall I’ll completely ignore the whole transgression of sending her to D.C. in the first place. Seriously it’ll be like it never happened. Heck I’ll even say something nice about your state. Deal?

Everybody Stop, Taser Time

For your exhibition I present item number 151 in abuse of Taser by police officers. Man man fell down some steps at the front of the house an injured himself. His wife called the paramedics whom arrive, administered treatment, and left. As they were leaving they were greeted by a couple cops storming into the house and telling the injured man he was coming with them to the hospital:

The deputy tells McFarland he is going to take him to the hospital because he may be suicidal.

“We want to take you to the hospital for an evaluation, you said if you had a gun, you’d shoot yourself in the head,” the deputy can be heard saying.

McFarland says it was just hyperbole. He was tired and in pain.

The deputy orders him numerous times to get up or else.

“Stand up, put your hands behind your back or you’re going to be Tased,” the deputy says.

McFarland keeps refusing.

McFarland pretty much did what I’d have done, explained the remark was hyperbole and kept sitting. I guess I’d have also requested the police to remove themselves from my property in a kindly way. Well the police decided the passive resistance to their authoritah was violent enough to require the use of a Taser. Of course as with any police officer on a power trip with a Taser they keep telling the man to stop resisting as they’re actively Tasing him. How much less resistance can you get and convulsing on the ground uncontrollably? The whole time the wife was begging the police to stop and even explained that her husband had a heart condition.

At the very least these officers should be tossed into prison for attempted murder. Personally I believe the wife would have been well within her rights to shoot the officer with the Taser under the laws of self-defense (which generally extend to loved ones). Of course had she done that she’s spend the rest of her life in prison because you can’t shoot a police officer in self-defense, they’re above than you, me, and the law.

Punishment is Overrated Anyways

I’ve mentioned a little laptop spying case that had come down upon a now infamous school district. In case you haven’t been reading that long I’ll recap.

The Lower Merion school district gave out laptops to each of their students. On every laptop was software that granted the ability for certain school officials to turn on the built-in web cam and see what was going on in front of the laptop. One of these school officials turned the camera on and saw what he or she thought was a kid doing drugs and tried bringing down the ban hammer. Bringing said hammer down revealed the fact that these laptops were being used to spy on kids. This feature was never actually mentioned to the students or parents whom received these laptops. This is where the shit storm started.

So what horrible punishment awaits the school officials whom were using these laptops to secretly spy on unsuspecting high school students? Absolutely nothing! It’s nice to see the justice system still works as it always has, in the benefit of the government.

I know what you’re thinking, at least the school will remove the said spying software from the kids’ laptops. Well that isn’t happening either. The school is going to openly admit they have the ability to spy on kids and their Scouts’ Honors they’ll only use it when absolutely necessary. You have to love this quote:

The measures require students and their parents to acknowledge the policies and consent in writing to any tracking, or give them an option to not participate in the laptop program. They also mandate expanded training about privacy and technology for teachers and staff, and will include information sessions for parents.

So you either put up with Big Brother or go without a laptop. That seems fair… so long as you get a tax refund for the percentage most likely being used to fund this program. The damnedest thing here is these spy programs don’t actually accomplish much as any thief with two brain cells to spare will just reformat any stolen computer to begin with. Logic of course has no place in our modern education system hence the promise from proven corrupt school officials is enough to shut the huddled masses up. Oh you also have to love this:

The district has already spent nearly $1 million in legal fees and expenses on the case.

Yes that’s right the school district has spent almost $1 million of tax payer money defending itself against tax payers. Government is the only entity where you sue them and have to pay for both your legal fees and the legal fees of those you are suing. Brilliant little scam right there! And just because it disgusts me here is another quote:

The meeting, at Penn Valley Elementary School, drew barely a dozen community members, and none who asked to speak about the policy.

Every fucking parent with a child in that school district should have been there and raising all levels of Hell. Fire and brimstone should have rained upon the school officials for spying on children. In any other capacity what those school officials did would have been labeled voyeurism and at the very least a massive invasion of privacy. Fuck that single sentence pisses me off to no end!

Let this story be a lesson, if a school gives your child a laptop tape over any built-in web cam and reformat the entire thing before your child uses it.

Edit 2010-08-18 11:16: Spelling and grammar, I don’t haz it. But I believe I’ve corrected the more glaring problems in the post.

And This is Who My State Elected People

I haven’t said much about the Kagen hearings because there really isn’t much I can say that hasn’t been said by somebody else already. Also I know she’ll get the confirmation regardless so I’ve decided to spend my time elsewhere. But I must say this is the kind of fuck up the majority of people in this state voted for when they filled in the little circle next to Klobuchar:

How crucial is the “Twilight” phenomenon to the cultural fabric of America? Enough that one’s opinion on it is apparently worth knowing before determining whether she should sit on the highest court in the land.

During her Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Solicitor General Elena Kagan was jokingly asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, for her thoughts on a particularly pressing issue.

Yes senator Klobuchar wasted her time on the floor asking about fucking Twilight instead of say… oh I don’t know something on consequence.

To everybody outside of Minnesota let me state that I’m very sorry for what a majority of my fellow Minnesotans have done. I promise the rest of us will work hard to correct this problem. Also thanks goes to Random Nuclear Strikes for my daily depression. But also another hat tip goes to him for the best response ever on the subject at hand.

Why I Hate the Police State

Why do I hate the idea of a police state? Because they will kill your fucking dogs. <a href="“>Every Day, No Days Off links to a video for a SWAT team raid where they bust down the door, storm in, and shoot the man’s dogs one of which was in it’s still in it’s fucking cage! Oh and what offense required such a forceful and zealous response? Possession of weed. Here’s the video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwSwvUaRqc]

If that doesn’t infuriate you I don’t know what will. Oh and in the end the police charged the parents with endangering their children. It seems to me the SWAT team did a better job of that than the parents.

Body Banks

I’m guessing most people reading this site don’t remember the ’80’s cyberpunk T.V. show Max Headroom. It was a great, although very short lived, show dealing with all sorts of technological issues. One thing that was prominent in the future were body banks. Body banks were where dead people were shipped to and their organs sold off for sale.

Well Uncle informs us that New York may be going that route. If Assemblyman Brodsky has his way you will become state property upon death and your organs will be dispersed.

Now I’m all for donating your organs upon death but this is outrageous. The state would be laying claim to your body making you property of the government. I’m sorry but if somebody doesn’t want to donate their organs when they die that’s their own damned business.

U.N. Proving Once Again That They’re Worthless

Everybody’s favorite organization is proving once again there are no people they’re not willing to fuck over hard. Here’s a video found via Dvorak Uncensored that shows what the U.N. is really doing in Haiti:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbieX5s-jHM]

Yup instead building shelters in convenient locations they’re kicking the Haitian population to the boonies while they drop down some nice air conditioned trailers in primo locations for themselves. Your donations at work ladies and gentlemen.