Tag: You Can’t Cure Stupid

I Guess Stereotypes Exist for a Reason

After reading this story I’ve come to the conclusion that some stereotypes exist for a reason. The stereotype in question? People in the south get into feuds over the damnedest things:

Associated Press news agency said Jerry Blasingame, 60, has been charged with assault for shooting Terry Tehnet, 52, with a shotgun.

Mr Tehnet was angry because he thought Mr Blasingame’s dog had defecated on his lawn, in a rural part of the state.

Mr Tehnet, whose injuries are not life-threatening, may also be charged.

Yes these two got into a firefight over one’s dog shitting on the other’s property. And it happened in Mississippi. Seriously guys you’re not helping the image of the South, United States, or gun owners. Next time listen to the advice of your local Sheriff:

Washington County Chief Deputy Sheriff Billy Barber said: “Homeowners and property owners need to respect each other’s property… If a dog did that in your yard, call the law. Don’t take matters into your own hands.”

Poorly Implemented Tracking System

It seems Copenhagen airport has wasted a bunch of money on a tracking system that is so easy to defeat that I’m going to tell you how to do it. First read this and try to guess my ingenious way of defeating this tracking system:

According to the New York Times, Copenhagen International Airport is currently testing a new program that monitors passengers based on WiFi data emitted from devices like laptops and smartphones.

You may have come to the same method of bypassing this tracking system as I have, turn off your fucking WiFi card. Simple, easy, and effective. You could also mess with the tracking system by putting your WiFi enabled phone into somebody bag when they’re not looking. Better yet just put your WiFi enabled device under a seat somewhere and go walk around the airport. Seriously this is a horribly implemented tracking system.

Apparently Capitalism Killed Life on Mars

Hugo Chavez is one of my favorite punching bags. First he claims that the earthquake in Haiti was caused by the United State’s super top secret earthquake machine and now he’s claiming capitalism is likely what killed all life on Mars:

“I have always said, heard, that it would not be strange that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism arrived and finished off the planet,” Chavez said in speech to mark World Water Day.

Chavez, who also holds capitalism responsible for many of the world’s problems, warned that water supplies on Earth were drying up.

Well Mr. Chavez I’d say it’s far more probably that socialism arrived as it has a nasty habit of leading to horrible loss of life as exemplified by the Soviet Union’s attempt at collectivization and China’s Great Leap Forward. It is the red planet after all.

On the “Assault Weapon” Ban of Yore

In a conversation I had elsewhere on the web the topic of the 1994 “assault weapon” ban came up. The accusation made by the person whom I’ll simply refer to as Mr. Dipshit stated:

Of course, the “assault weapons ban” was anything but; it was actually just a subsidy to the American gun industry. Several American weapons which were nearly identical to foreign ones were not classified as assault weapons, while the foreign equivalents were.

I’m bringing this up because I’ve heard this before and for the life of me can’t figured out where this bullshit originated from. The 1994 “assault weapon” ban was not a subsidy to the American gun industry. How can I say that? Because the 1994 “assault weapon” ban had nothing to do with importation of foreign weapons… at all.

If you read the text of the bill [PDF] that established the “assault weapon” ban you’ll notice it first establishes a list of firearms that are outright banned:

`(i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models);
`(ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;
`(iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);
`(iv) Colt AR-15;
`(v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;
`(vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12;
`(vii) Steyr AUG;
`(viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and
`(ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12;

I’ve emphasized a rifle on that list, the AR-15. Why? Because it was a popular rifle produced in America. After listing these firearms specifically criteria was given to establish what qualifies as an “assault weapon” (as the term is made up they had to create rules for it):

`(B) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of–
`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
`(iii) a bayonet mount;
`(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and
`(v) a grenade launcher;

`(C) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of–
`(i) an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;
`(ii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
`(iii) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the nontrigger hand without being burned;
`(iv) a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; and
`(v) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and

`(D) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least 2 of–
`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
`(iii) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 5 rounds; and
`(iv) an ability to accept a detachable magazine.’.

None of these listed features were in any way specific to foreign firearms. Likewise many of these features were common to popular American manufactured firearms. Hell this law banned the production of M-14 pattern rifles because they had a flash suppressor and a bayonet lug (the ban was avoided by taking the bayonet lug off).

If there is an argument of a gun control law that established a subsidy to the American gun industry it would be the Gun Control Act of 1968 [PDF] (the last starts on page 4 of the linked document) which established import restrictions:

(4) The Attorney General shall permit the conditional importation of a firearm by a licensed importer or licensed manufacturer, for examination and test- ing to determine whether or not the un- conditional importation of such firearm would violate this subsection.

This granted the Attorney General authority to determine what can and can’t be imported into this country. There are also various parts of the legislation that talk about the concept of “sporting purpose.” The Gun Control Act of 1968 is the law that established restrictions on what can and can’t be brought into this country. If you want to whine about a government subsidy to the American gun industry this is the bill you need to bitch about. Likewise if you want to remove this government subsidy please talk to me as I’d love to help you out by getting the entire law abolished.

The bottom line is if you’re going to bitch about firearm laws then you better fucking know them. Actually this goes for both side because if you’re pro-gun and referencing the wrong, or worse non-existent, laws you’re not helping us. Research before you go on a rant about something because if you don’t do your research nobody is going to listen to you as you’ll be spouting bullshit. Nobody likes bullshit except for dung beetles.

Reducing Oil Prices

Due to unrest in the Middle East the price of oil has skyrocketed as of late. Except much of the high oil prices aren’t due to unrest in the Middle East (which should be obvious by the fact we get most of our oil from Canada) but from government interference in the energy market. Although the entire article is a good read this part made me shake my head the most:

The SPR program is ridiculous: Oil companies invest in drilling oil wells. They pump the oil out of the ground. The federal government then uses tax dollars to purchase the oil and pump it into salt caverns 2,000–4,000 feet beneath the ground. If we want to use the oil, we will have to pump it out of the ground a second time. We pump oil out of the ground, pump it back into the ground, and then pump it out again. It would be more efficient to store the oil in its original underground formation and allow private oil companies to decide when to pump it out.

Only a government could come to the realization that pumping oil out of the ground only to put it back into the ground and pump it out again at a later date makes good sense. Of course this is all done at taxpayer expense to boot.

Overreaction Never Makes Sense

Germany seems to have an innate desire to prove that they are willing to overreact illogically to any situation. Case in point Germany has shutdown seven of its nuclear power plants in lieu of the situation in Japan. Of course Germany isn’t taking one small detail into consideration; Japan’s reactor is having problems because it was built on the fault line and experienced a 9.0 magnitude (not sure if that’s local or manner magnitude as nobody every fucking says) earthquake.

My head spins with Germany’s reaction. What were they thinking? I’m betting it was something along the lines of, “Mien Fuhrer, Japan’s nuclear reactor is experiencing a meltdown and the only logical thing we can do is shutdown our perfectly function and undamaged plants!” Brilliant! I’m sure somebody is getting a raise for that decision.

The only reason Japan’s plant is looking at potential meltdown is due to the earthquake and tsunami causing extensive damage. Yes natural disasters happen but when it happens elsewhere it doesn’t man countries a third of the way around the globe should react as if that natural disaster had hit them.

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).

Conflict of Interest

I have a slight moral conflict here as I oppose the use of violence outside of self-defense but on the other hand these cyclists had it coming:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oOL6fMvhww]

A hat tip to Gun Free Zone for finding this first.

Also for those who don’t understand sarcasm I have no moral conflict, what the driver in the Volkswagen did was wrong. I’m also not going to lie, I laughed hard when I watched this.

The Impossibility is Mind Blowing

This has to be the most impossible shooting I’ve read about in a while. Not only did it occur in Germany where gun control laws are about as strict as you can get without an outright ban, but it happened in an airport where guns are a big no-no as well.

I’m completely baffled at how such a thing could happen, it’s double-illegal to shoot somebody in a German airport!

Double Standards

Slow news days get you pointless speculations and inane rambles of a libertarian. This posts is the latter. One thing that has always pissed me off is hypocrisy. Nothing is quite as awesome as somebody who claims to believe one thing and then does the exact opposite but tells everybody else they shouldn’t be allowed to do it. There are more subtle forms of hypocrisy such as that perpetrated by the likes of former Mayor Daley, Mayor Bloomberg, and President Obama.

Let’s take a look at a specific example for which I’ll put the laser on Mayor Bloomberg. Bloomberg is the chief of the purposely deceptively named organizations Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The name is truthful though as the organizations wants nothing more than to make all guns illegal and thus eliminate gun ownership in the United States. Thankfully their success rate has been less than optimal and thus haven’t managed to establish any gun bans.

Bloomberg wants you and me disarmed. He has no exceptions carved out for those who wish to have firearms available for self-defense because we’re just little peasants that don’t deserve to have a fighting chance should somebody with evil intent decide to enter our lives. While he’s spouting how evil guns are and how we need to disarm lawful citizens he stands surrounded by armed body guards. This is certainly a form of hypocrisy, decrying the use of something while in turn using it. Some people fail to see this because they’ve been taught that government officials are better than any of us little people and thus are deserving of special treatment.

This attitude has to end. I strongly believe government shouldn’t be allowed to do anything we the people aren’t allowed to do. If I can’t walk around with hired body guards then my government officials shouldn’t be able to either (depending on the state you’re in you may be able to hire private body guards). If I’m not allowed to own a Glock 17 with 33 round magazines then nobody employed by the government should be allowed to either. The second a law is passed that bars private citizens from something but carves out an exception of military or law enforcement there exists hypocrisy. This is even more apparent when you realize the police force is made up of regular civilians like you and me, they are not somehow elevated above that position because of their uniform.

Another example of government hypocrisy is the debt faced by both our federal government and most (all?) state governments. We’re told time and time again that we need to start living within our means while our governments spend far more money than they have available to them. Why is it OK for them to spend billions of dollars they don’t have without punishment but when we do it there are ramifications?

It would please me greatly if people would open their eyes and demand an end of such hypocrite behavior by government officials.