You’re Doing it Right – Page 25

Edward Snowden Receives the Swedish Right Livelihood Award

There are still a lot of ignorant worshipers of the state who see Edward Snowden as a traitor I think a majority of the people who have heard of him recognize him for what he is: a hero. And while the United States government tries to find a way to get Snowden back stateside so he can be given the Chelsey Manning treatment other governments are giving him award:

Whistleblower Edward Snowden received several standing ovations in the Swedish parliament after being given the Right Livelihood award for his revelations of the scale of state surveillance.

Snowden, who is in exile in Russia, addressed the parliament by video from Moscow. In a symbolic gesture, his family and supporters said no one picked up the award on his behalf in the hope that one day he might be free to travel to Sweden to receive it in person.

His father, Lon, who was in the chamber for what was an emotional ceremony, said: “I am thankful for the support of the Right Livelihood award and the Swedish parliament. The award will remain here in expectation that some time – sooner or later – he will come to Stockholm to accept the award.”

I also hope that he can someday leave Russia and claim is award. Sadly the wrath of the United States government is long lived and Snowden will likely die of old age before his transgressions are forgotten.

Tyrannical Russian Regime Becomes Slightly Less Tyrannical

It appears that the tyrannical Russian regime has become slightly less tyrannical by allowing serfs to use self-defense as a justification when begging their lords for permission to carry a firearm:

In an amendment to its tough gun control laws, the Russian government eases restrictions, allowing citizens to carry licensed weapons for the purposes of ‘self-defense.’

Until now Russian gun enthusiasts were only permitted to carry firearms for hunting or target shooting after obtaining a license through the Interior Ministry. Russian gun licenses are to be renewed every five years, and applicants face strict background checks and are required to take gun safety courses.

The addendum to the law now lists self-defense as a legally acceptable reason for carrying a weapon

But seriously, it’s awful nice of the Russian lords to give the serfs this little indulgence. What I will be interested in seeing is how may permits the Russian government will actually issue where self-defense is listed as the justification.

Nobody is Beyond Redemption

I give modern policing a lot of shit on this blog. Oftentimes people mistake those rants as some kind of deep seated hatred for police officers. Truthfully I don’t hate police officers, at least not all of them. There are a lot of decent people who have, for some reason unknown to me, chosen to take up a life of crime. But their intentions are good and they generally remain good people. More importantly I don’t believe anybody is beyond redemption. Even the most vile individual can have a change in heart (although it’s rare). Counter Current News has an interview that proves this very fact. It’s with Raeford Davis a former officer of the Beavercreek Police Department. He went from being an enforcer of the state’s whims to one of the good guys:

One of those former “good cops” is Raeford Davis, and today he is an anarchist.

Davis was a police officer for six years. While troubled by many aspects of government law enforcement at the time, he explains that he was committed to the cause. Later, over a period of years, he began to understand the morality or lack thereof, behind policing the community as an arm an agent of the State.

Davis became immersed in the concepts of voluntarism, anarchism, the non-aggression principal and how destructive the current manifestation of law enforcement is to proper human interaction.

If one can go from a cop to an anarchist then there’s hope for anyone.

He’s going to be interviewed at 21:00 Central Time Zone tonight on Cop Block Radio. I’m sure it will be an interesting interview and will try to tune in.

3D Printing a Better Future

3D printers are moving towards a world where goods can be readily manufactured at home instead of relying on centralized supply chains. A lot of people in the first world don’t understand the ramifications of this technology but in the third world the advantages of 3D printers are becoming quite obvious:

A growing number of people are bringing the maker spirit to off-the-grid and underdeveloped regions across the globe. It’s part of an effort to create technologically self-sufficient communities, while bringing a little economic uplift in the process.

Nonprofit organizations like Field Ready and for-profit businesses such as re3D have already brought 3D printers to underdeveloped economies. In Haiti, Field Ready’s Eric James and Dara Dotz are working on 3D printing on-demand birthing kits, including umbilical clamps. As Dotz told me, Field Ready is also encouraging small scale manufacturing of agricultural tools via 3D printing.

“We’re working on printing simple things like oxygen splitters for oxygen tanks, which link the tank to the patient,” Dotz said. “Small clinics just can’t get [these] medical products and equipment, which bigger hospitals can buy in bulk at a discount. You can also wait six months to three years to get your equipment, and then there can be a lot of corruption with that as well.”

3D printers have two advantages that I really cherish. First they decentralize manufacturing, which makes controlling can and can’t be manufactured difficult for the state. Second they allow people to store raw resources and use them to make needed tools when (or near when) they’re needed. Keeping a stock of every tool you may need is generally more difficult than keeping stock of spools of plastic wire.

The first world probably won’t see these advantages in action for some time but the third world, as is often the case, is seeing the effects of innovation in the present.

Arnold Abbott Arrested Again for Feeding the Homeless

The government of Fort Lauderdale, Florida really hates homeless people. In fact it hates them so much that it recently passed a law aimed at preventing people from feeding the homeless. Arnold Abbott and a few of his friends decided to keep feeding them in spite of the law and were actually arrested by, what I imagine are, the biggest assholes to ever become police officers (seriously, if you’re a police officer and you’re arresting people for feeding the homeless then you are part of the problem). The city cited Mr. Abbott and he decided to give them a rightly deserved middle finger by continuing on his mission to make the lives of homeless individuals slightly better. Needless to say he was arrested again:

Arnold Abbott, the 90-year-old advocate for the homeless who was issued a citation earlier this week for feeding the homeless without adhering to new rules that would require him to obtain a permit and provide portable toilets, was cited again Wednesday night for the same reason.

This is an example of civil disobedience done right. An erroneous law was passed because a city government believes that the best way to deal with the homeless is to make their lives more miserable so they mosey on to the next city. To demonstrate how shitty the law is people have decided to publicly disobey it, which requires the police and city government to either demonstrates the fact that they’re raging asshole or back down.

The people of Fort Lauderdale would be right if they decided to arrest and detain both the members of the city government and the police for their attempts at restricting voluntary association.

Not a Better 3D Printed Gun But a Better Bullet

The thing I like most about the 3D printed firearms community is their creativity. Developing a firearm that functions at all out of plastic is no small task. Developing one that can be fired multiple times without exploding is downright impressive. But a firearm that can only be fired a few times safely is still of limited use. Fortunately somebody is looking at improving 3D printed firearms by redesigning the ammunition instead of the gun:

Michael Crumling, a 25-year-old machinist from York, Pennsylvania, has developed a round designed specifically to be fired from 3-D printed guns. His ammunition uses a thicker steel shell with a lead bullet inserted an inch inside, deep enough that the shell can contain the explosion of the round’s gunpowder instead of transferring that force to the plastic body or barrel of the gun. Crumling says that allows a home-printed firearm made from even the cheapest materials to be fired again and again without cracking or deformation. And while his design isn’t easily replicated because the rounds must be individually machined for now, it may represent another step towards durable, practical, printed guns—even semi-automatic ones.

While it’s not a perfect solution it is promising. If the reloading community invested in this I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before somebody would begin mass producing the necessary steel shells. Another option may be to find an already actively produced steel sleeve that is close the to correct size and develop 3D printed barrels and bullets around that.

Man Arrested for Feeding the Homeless

The Fort Lauderdale police weren’t kidding when they said that they would arrest a man for feeding the homeless. Arnold Abbott, a 90 year-old man, and two of his cohorts are now facing two months in jail and a $500 fine because they had the audacity to feed those in need:

A 90-year-old man and two Christian ministers face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine after they were arrested for feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Arnold Abbott, 90, was the first to be charged under a new city ordinance which virtually outlaws sharing food with the homeless in public. He says he was told to “Drop that plate immediately!” by an officer, as though he were holding a weapon.

“These are the poorest of the poor, they have nothing; they don’t have a roof over their heads. How do you turn them away?” Abbott said to the local KHON2 station.

Abbott has fed the homeless for over 20 years and heads Love Thy Neighbor, Inc. In 1999, he successfully sued the city when they tried to stop him feeding the homeless on the beach.

These are the people who should be celebrated as heroes in this country. In spite of the law they refused to back down from doing what is right. They are also proof that the phrase “law-abiding citizen” is a bunch of bullshit because the law and morality are not the same thing. If there is a site taking donations for their legal defense fund I would very much appreciate being told about it because these are the kind of people I want to support.

Feed the Homeless, Go to Jail

Fort Lauderdale decided that it wasn’t fighting hard enough in the war against the decided to change its strategy a bit by making it a jailable offense for many groups to feed homeless individuals:

The city of Fort Lauderdale last week passed an ordinance that effectively outlaws several humanitarian groups from feeding the homeless in public with a penalty of up to 60 days in jail. The law kicked in Friday, setting up a potential showdown between those groups and police.

[…]

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said that is exactly what his city will do.

“Just because of media attention we don’t stop enforcing the law,” said Seiler. “We enforce the laws here in Fort Lauderdale.”

“So it’s fair to say if they break the law this weekend they will be arrested?” asked Norman.

“If they break the law and it’s observed by one of our law enforcement officers they are subject to arrest,” Seiler said.

On the upside one of the people who has been feeding the homeless, Micah Harris, said that he will continue to feed the homeless in spite of the damn law. It’s nice to know that there are people out there willing to give the state a gigantic middle finger. I only wish there were more.

If You Want Limited Government You’re Not Getting it By Voting

November 4^th is almost here (and almost over, thank the gods; I can’t wait until people are being nicer to one another again), which means the political rhetoric is in high gear and most people deeply involved in politics are being insufferable dicks to anybody who isn’t going to vote their way.

Since this isn’t a presidential election few people really give a damn. But there is one group of people who care very much, the small group of presidential hopefuls. These scumbag politicians are spewing some of the dumbest rhetoric out there in the hopes of drumming up a base of gullible suckers who will work furiously, for free, on their campaigns. Elizabeth Warren already beat on the rhetoric drum when she claimed that the Republicans are responsible for everything bad in this country. So it’s time for a Republicans to claim that the Democrats are responsible for all of this country’s ills. Who better to spew such rhetoric than Rand Paul:

Our Founder’s would be ashamed at what our government has become. Micromanaging the daily lives of citizens is not the duty of government. But the GOP is taking a stand—we are saying enough is enough.

It is the Republican party that is trying to limit government power and this is an ideal that all libertarians firmly believe in and support. If we want to protect our civil liberties, we must come together. And it’s no secret that the Republican party desperately need libertarian support.

This is what Rand has reduced himself to, being a mindless party shill in the hopes he will be given a chance at the presidency (he won’t). But it’s amazing how much cognitive dissonance this man maintains. The Republican Party, according to his article, will protect our civil liberties. I must have missed the asterisk that indicates your civil liberties won’t be protected if they involve wanting to marry somebody of the same gender, transition genders, smoke cannabis, avoid being spied on by the government, keep your assets from being randomly seized by police officers, stop this “tough on crime” bullshit this has made this country a total police state, freely cross the imaginary line between the United States and Mexico, go through the airport without being sexually molested, or practice the Muslim faith without being labeled at terrorist. Basically if the civil liberties you want to enjoy fall without a very small subset then the Republican Party may throw you bone if you beg really hard.

You’re not going to vote yourself a limited government. In fact a limited government is a pipe dream. Once a group of individuals has the power to declare what is legal and illegal and has the capacity for violence to beat down or kill anybody who disagrees the idea of limited control is thrown out the window. The only limitation you may enjoy are the ones approved by the state. As we have seen in this country every politicians is interested in curtailing your liberties. Some of them want to curtail one subset while others want to curtail another subset. In the end both subsets get restricted because both groups of politicians manage to wield some of the state’s power.

If you want limited government voting Republican isn’t going to get it. In fact it won’t even slow down the state’s grabbing for power. Republicans want to restrict your liberties just as much as Democrats. That’s why voting isn’t going to deliver the goods. The only candidates that have a shot of winning (because the Republican and Democrats used their duopoly to lockout other parties for all intents and purposes) want to expand the state’s powers.

Anyways I will try to avoid wasting your time with too many political articles between now and November 4^th and focus on things that actually matter.

I’m Sure They’ll Listen to Reason

A little under one year ago Solid Concepts brought us a 3D printed 1911. What made Solid Concept’s 3D printed handgun different from previous 3D printed handguns was that it was made of metal instead of plastic. The 3D printed 1911 fired 5,000 shots without a problem and was retired. Now Solid Concepts is upping the ante with a 3D printed 10mm handgun that they’re calling Reason:

Here we are, almost one year later, and Eric Mutchler, Project Engineer at Solid Concepts, who was the developer of the first 1911 pistol, has produced a new 1911, this time a bit fancier. Although the gun likely will not appeal to everyone, the detail and lettering on the firearm show just how incredibly accurate the direct metal laser sintering machine used to create it must have been. Using a high powered laser to directly melt metal powder, layer-by-layer, this weapon was produced.

The gun, with the word ‘Reason” printed onto its barrel, is chambered in 10mm auto. This new firearm is much more stylish than its predecessor, with a wave-like design printed into the grip, and a gradient of parallel lines throughout the barrel. What will make this 1911 pistol stand out the most, however, is the preamble of the Declaration of Independence printed onto the front of the grip, making a statement obvious to anyone who sees the weapon.

Although this is a far cry from the Reason weapon system from Snow Crash it’s still a pretty sweet technology demonstration. Combine this design, which looks very functional, with the fact that 3D printers capable of working with metal are going to become cheaper you can see how gun control will soon be as irrelevant as laws against pirating music, movies, and e-books.

We are entering the era where technology makes the state’s authority meaningless. When individuals are capable of manufacturing regulated goods in their home regulations have no teeth.