Tag: Law and Disorder

Illegal Drone Usage

The United States government certainly has balls. Not only are they willing to violate the rights of American citizens but they’re also willing to violate the airspace of other nations:

The US has been sending unarmed drones over Mexico since February to gather intelligence on major drug cartels, the New York Times reports.

Yeah we’ll just fly some drones around Mexico since they probably can’t detect them or shoot them down. Now that I think about it we probably asked the Mexican government for permissions:

The missions had been kept secret because of Mexican legal restraints and sensitivities over sovereignty.

Or not. It’s OK though because now the Mexican government knows and they’re probably pissed as Hell…

US President Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, formally agreed to continue the surveillance flights during talks in Washington on 3 March, which included a frank exchange of grievances, Mexican and US officials said.

Or not. Honestly if I were the ruler of a country and my neighbor started violating my airspace I’d be pissed regardless of the intentions. Hell if I had the capabilities I would track and shoot down the drones claiming they were foreign military assets violating my country’s airspace.

I guess we shouldn’t expect a government willing to violate the rights of its own citizens to respect the rights of other countries.

One Reason to Adopt H&K

Do you need a reason to adopt the overly expensive H und K pistol? I have a reason for you, if you don’t they will sue your sorry ass (in all fairness Walther is in on this as well but they’re not as much fun to ridicule):

Earlier this year the Dutch police announced the adoption of a new pistol, the Sig Sauer PPNL (Police Pistol Netherlands).

Heckler & Koch and Walther, who lost out on the contract, have announced their intention to take the government to court over the decision.

I wonder if H und K has superior German engineered lawyers.

Tell the Truth, Get Sued, Lose $60,000

Johnny Northside, like myself, is a blogger. Unlike myself Mr. Northside has been sued because he told the truth:

Though blogger John (Johnny Northside) Hoff told the truth when he linked ex-community leader Jerry Moore to a high-profile mortgage fraud, the scathing blog post that got Moore fired justifies $60,000 in damages, a Hennepin County jury decided Friday.

The jury awarded Moore $35,000 for lost wages and $25,000 for emotional distress. The civil verdict culminated a nearly two-year legal scuffle between John Hoff, whose blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside, has 300 to 500 readers daily, and Moore, former director of the Jordan Area Community Council.

Moore was fired by the University of Minnesota in June 2009, the day after Hoff’s post.

Mr. Northside’s blog post that ended the job of Mr. Moore wasn’t libel or slander, it was factual. Yet a jury decided that telling the truth is a bad thing and thus found Mr. Northside in error, $60,000 worth of error. Not only that but $25,000 of that fine was for “emotional distress.” How does one calculate the value of emotional distress? Is there some kind of formula I’m unaware of or it the value just set all willy-nilly at the end of the court case?

Obviously Mr. Northside is appealing as this is certainly a bum result. Mr. Moore was an employee of the state since he worked at the University of Minnesota. As an employee of the state it is the right of every Minnesotan to have him terminated from our employ if he does something we find undesirable. My tax dollars shouldn’t be going to fund something whom is committing any form of fraud. Hopefully Mr. Northside wins his appeal and Mr. Moore ends up paying Mr. Northside $85,000 (repay the $60,000 and add another $25,000 for emotional distress).

Hope and Change

I’m at a loss on this story:

The Associated Press has sued several retailers including Urban Outfitters for the unauthorised use of the Hope image created by artist Shepard Fairey.

What confuses me is how can you copyright a portrayal of a person? The picture under scrutiny here is that red, white, and blue image of the Obamessiah. Being it’s a, and I use the term very loosely, work of art based on a person shouldn’t that person get a say in how it is used? Can somebody just create a painting of me and then sell it but later sue me if I violate their copyright by using it? Couple this with the fact Obama is a public figured and the entire situation gets really dicey.

How the Hell did the Associated Press get a copyright on an artistic portrayal of a person? Did Obama even have a say in this issue? From where I’m sitting this is one fucked up situation.

How’s That Gun Control Working

Apparently even France’s strict control on firearms isn’t enough to prevent people from shooting each other. An 78 year-old man shot shot three people in France:

A man of 78 shot dead two council workers and a passer-by on a street in the southern French town of Rivesaltes before trying to take his own life.

Obviously France isn’t banning guns hard enough. We must remember the golden rule, if something doesn’t work you just have to try again only harder.

More Government Officials Running Guns

Bad news for several public officials in Columbus, New Mexico. It seems their plot to run guns into Mexico has been discovered:

The police chief, the mayor and a local politician of a small town on the American side of the US-Mexico border have been charged with gun running.

Prosecutors say the officials from Columbus, New Mexico, bought some 200 guns which they allegedly planned to sell to drug cartels in Mexico.

Explain to me again how enacting laws to restrict the rights of American citizens is going to stem the flow of guns into Mexico? It doesn’t seem that plan of action is going to work so well when it’s the government smuggling the guns. Maybe we should enact laws restricting access to firearms but the government instead.

Wisconsin Budget Bill Vote

In news certain to piss off a lot of people the Senate Republicans in Wisconsin voted on the controversial budget bill last night. Needless to say protesters were pissed and those of us who find granted monopoly coercion distressing are kind of happy.

What I don’t understand is why the protesters aren’t pissed at the Democratic “representatives” who left the pro-union people high and dry by fleeing to Illinois. If you are protesting on the side of the public union you were abandoned by the Democrats. The supposed reason we elect “representatives” is to advance our agendas at the capital. Advancing an agenda requires debate and that requires actually being present. That’s not when the Democratic “representatives” did, instead of facing hard work they ran away like cowards in the hope to gain martyrdom. Were I protesting on the side of the public unions I’d be fucking pissed and would have pushed for recall elections the second they left the state.

Although I’m in disagreement with the protesters I still absolutely love the civil disobedience going on.

The ATF Have Been Running Guns Since 2008

Man the hole keeps getting deeper for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms an Explosives (ATF). First they are caught providing guns to Mexican drug cartels and now documents have surfaced that the ATF has been doing this since 2008:

Multiple sources now tell CBS News the questionable tactics were used in more than one operation, and date back as far as 2008 in the Tucson area. One case was called “Wide Receiver.”

Sources tell CBS News licensed gun dealers often wanted no part of selling to suspicious characters who could be supplying the cartels.

But, sources say, ATF enlisted the gun dealers as paid Confidential Informants and encouraged them to sell even more.

“ATF has asked me to assist in an official investigation,” reads one agreement.

Gun salesmen closed the deals, and ATF watched and listened with recording devices.

Your tax dollars and government at work. It angers me to no end having to support an organization that is not only trying to restrict my rights but is also providing criminals with firearms while they claim they prevent exactly that. I think it’s obvious to anybody with cognitive capabilities that the ATF needs to be abolished.

Stealing Vehicles with Tow Trucks

I’ve often wondered why nobody used tow truck services to steal cars but as Bruce Schneier points out they do:

Stealing cars has apparently never been easier. Criminals aren’t using fancy tools or new technology; they’re just calling the tow truck and having cars towed away.

I’ve had to have my truck towed a couple of times and I noticed I was never once asked for proof that I owned the vehicle. Due to this I figured calling a tow truck on a vehicle you want to steal would be a good idea. The only potential downside would be the tow truck driver knowing where the vehicle went but by the time anybody thought to contact the tow truck driver the vehicle could be long gone.

Of course few people keep the title to their vehicles inside of their vehicles (because it’s a stupid idea). Thus there really is no way to provide proof of ownership when you have your vehicle towed which makes this situation a bit tricky.

Operation Gunwalker is Getting Popular

The media sure loves a good scandal and it seems the United States government providing guns to Mexican drug cartels is popular enough to warrant coverage overseas. It also seems the Mexican government is curious about the United States latest shenanigans:

Mexico has asked the US for detailed information on a law enforcement operation that allegedly allowed guns to be smuggled across the border.

The request follows media reports that US federal agents allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled into Mexico in the hope of tracking the weapons to drug cartel leaders.

Some of the guns were reportedly later used in crimes including murder.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has already ordered an inquiry.

This is what government is good at, creating problems and then claiming their necessity to fix them. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) created a problem by smuggling guns into Mexico that demanded emergency powers in order to correct the issue. I wish I could create problems at work just so I could fix them and be considered awesome for doing it. Of course if I did that I’d be fired and rightfully so. You also have to enjoy the irony in this paragraph:

The ATF reportedly allowed 1,765 guns to be smuggled into Mexico over a 15 month period, including assault weapons and high-powered sniper rifles.

Of those guns, 797 were recovered on both sides of the border.

Many are thought to have been used in crimes, including two that were recovered at the scene of the killing of a US border protection agent in Arizona.

Wow the ATF is busy if they trafficked 1,765 guns into Mexico. Then again I’m sure they don’t have to explain to the border guards why they’re smuggling 100 guns into Mexico so it’s probably pretty easy. Likewise it’s ironic that the weapon used to kill the border agent was supplied by the very government that employed him. With friends like that who needs enemies.