Tag: You’re Doing it Wrong

Good Problems to Have

This whole “constitutional carry” movement seems to be picking up speed. Wyoming has a bill moving through their legislature, a Tennessee representative just introduced such legislation in his state, and now New Hampshire has not just one but two competing constitutional carry bills:

Competing bills have been filed to eliminate New Hampshire’s license requirement for carrying concealed weapons, dividing the pro gun community. Some are lining up behind state Rep. J.R. Hoell, a Dunbarton Republican, and others behind state Rep. Jennifer Coffey, a Republican from Andover.

Man I would love to have that problem here in Minnesota.

As a side note let me just raise a big middle finger to Seacoast Online whom is the source in the NRA-ILA article I linked to. Usually I try to link to both the source I obtained my information from as well as the original source of the information. I didn’t do that here because Seacoast Online are asses. When the page was loading I saw the article for a split second (long enough to read the first sentence) before it disappeared. Why did it disappear? So the page could display a message telling me to enable JavaScript.

I use NoScript to only allow sites I trust to run JavaScript. This saves a ton of headaches online including those stupid advertisements that appears over articles in some web pages (not separate pop-up windows but inside the windows the page is displayed in) among other malicious activity. Some pages need JavaScript because they are poorly made, I get that. But when a page can display the article without JavaScript and chooses to hide it after the page completely loads that’s just inexcusable. Serious dick move there guys.

You’re Doing it Wrong Take 1,057

I know AOL hasn’t “gotten it” for years but they really flubbed on this choice:

In a bid to make itself relevant again, struggling Internet pioneer AOL Inc. announced late Sunday that it would buy the Huffington Post, the well-known news and opinion site, for $315 million in cash and stock.

Emphasis mine. If you want to make yourself relevant again buying an irrelevant “news” source that makes Fox News look unbiased is not the way to go about it.

Greedy Prats

Yes I use an iPhone but also keep a love-hate relationship with the device due to Apple’s draconian controls over what you’re allowed to and now allowed to do on your device. The main problem I have is Android didn’t work out for me as Google went and lost every record of every application I had purchased leaving me to either purchase them again (there is no support e-mail or phone number for the Market and their support forum seems to go entirely unmonitored) or abandon the platform. When you fuck me over I’m done so here I am in Apple land mostly happy.

Well Apple apparently has decided to be even more greedy and are forcing app developers who offer paid content outside of the App Store to include that same content through the App Store by March 31st. What makes this an even bigger deal is the fact Apple will take a 30% cut of all items purchased through the App Store.

This came to light when Apple rejected Sony’s e-reader application on ground that it allowed users to purchase content inside the app but not through the App Store. Amazon got away with this but sending users to the Kindle website when they clicked the button to buy a book in their Kindle app for iOS. Now Apple is changing the rules and both the Kindle and Barnes and Nobel apps will be required to offer all of their content through the App Store or abandon the platform.

Of course Apple’s 30% cut is rather insane for something like e-books because it means those e-books go from a profitable endeavor to a loss. When you buy a book most of the money goes to the publishers with a small percentage going to the store that sold the book and maybe some to the author if their book has already made the publisher their advance back. If you self-publish on Amazon they take 30% of the sale price of the book. This means all books sold through the App Store will lose Amazon money (probably Barnes and Nobel as well but I’m not familiar with their self-publishing option).

Who is going to continue doing business when you lose money with every purchase? Nobody that’s who. That very well could be Apple’s intention as well. The Kindle and Barnes and Nobel apps both compete with Apple’s iBook application (and by compete I mean dominate because the selection available through iBooks is pathetic at best). I wouldn’t be surprised if this entire maneuver is just a ploy for Apple to push their competition out of their market. Talk about being complete assholes and morons at the same time. If Apple starts pushing out other companies they will soon lose their main advantage, the app ecosystem.

Government Efficiency at Work

When you’re a lawyer fighting for the rights of the people it seems you’ll never get paid. Alan Gura, who fought for us in both Heller vs. District of Columbia and McDonald vs. Chicago still hasn’t gotten paid for the first case.

Meanwhile the government has paid $140,000 to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Lawful Self-Defense for stomping all over our rights.

Gee can you tell what side our government is on? It sure as the Hell isn’t ours.

Legislation to Make a Statement

There is a bill being proposed in South Dakota that would required every male above the age of 21 to purchase a firearm. They proposal is being used to make a statement against the Health Insurance Company Enrichment Act:

“Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance,” he said.

Using legislation to make a statement about legislation is a dangerous game that I can’t condone. First of all requiring everybody to purchase a firearm is just as bad as barring people from purchasing firearms. A right doesn’t require mandatory participation, if you wish to stay silent you may even though you have a right to free speech. A right simply means the option to exercise it is there should you chose to.

Many gun nuts are stating the point of this proposal is a good thing. I have a problem with it simply because legislation has been known to pass even though nobody thought it would go anywhere. Anytime a proposal on a new law is made it opens up the door for the proposal to become law.

I respect the idea being brought forth (the government can’t force you to buy something) but I don’t like the method being used in this case.

Security Theater at the Theater

Yo Dawg, I heard you liked security theater so we put security theater in your theater so you can watch while you watch.

It seems Broadway theaters think they’re pretty important targets of opportunity:

Additional steps are needed to prepare Broadway theaters in New York City for a potential WMD attack or other crisis, a New York state legislature subcommittee said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 23, 2010).

I’m sure the terrorists are going to spend a lot of time and effort to smuggle a nuclear or biological weapon into a Broadway theater in an attempt to kill thousands of people. That makes so much sense considering all the weapons of mass destruction we’ve been finding terrorists with as of late… wait, that hasn’t happened.

I Can’t Agree With the NRA on This

Most of the time I don’t have a lot of problems with the actions of the National Rifle Association (NRA) but this new piece of Florida legislation they’re backing is pure shit. The bills are S.B. 432 and H.B. 155

What the bills would do if passed is make it a felony for a medical practitioner to ask about your firearms or record information about your status as a gun owner:

(2)(a) A person who violates this section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable, except as provided in paragraph (b), as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(b) A person who violates this section may be assessed a fine of not more than $5 million if the court determines that the person knew or reasonably should have known that the conduct was unlawful.

I’m completely against doctors asking if you own firearms but you know what? If they ask you can flat out tell them it’s none of their business. They can’t legally force you to tell them if you own firearms. On top of that making it a fucking felony, a charge that will revoke said doctor’s own second amendment rights, is insane. Here’s my solution to this problem, if your doctor is asking you question about your personal life that you don’t want to answer then don’t answer. If said doctor continues to inquire find a new doctor.

Likewise the bill also mentions medical personnel making records of whether or not you have firearms in your household. I agree that shouldn’t be happening but making it a fucking felony is overboard to say the least. You know what a good solution to this would be? Check your medical records periodically and if any mention of your status as a firearm owner appears go to another doctor and maybe even bring a civil suite against your doctor for recording non-medical related information. This is bad legislation plain and simple and I wish the NRA would stop promoting it. Punishments should fit the crime and revoking somebody’s right to bear arms or even vote because they recorded information they shouldn’t have is going a bit far.

Now if we want to make a law against government inquiring about your status as a gun owner or recording any information about your status as a firearm owner I’ll back that 100%.

Why We Need to Defund NPR

I’m sure I’ll get flak for this one, I always do. It seems there is an unjustifiable love for National Public Radio (NPR) around my circle of friends any I get nothing by hatred every time I state we shouldn’t be giving tax money to the organization (then I again I also get the same flak when I say we should abolish Social Security, Medicare, and Medicade). Well the gloves are off because I found a prime example of why NPR should receive no public funding. What is that example? Well they have an agenda, are not neutral, and are trying to silence an entire movement based around a right. This is a letter received by several gun bloggers inviting them to be a guest speaker on an NPR debate:

Dear Mr. Farago:

I work for the NPR program On Point with Tom Ashbrook and I’m writing to ask if any of thetruthaboutguns.com‘s contributors would be able to speak as a guest on Monday, January 17. We’re looking for a gun owner and 2nd Amendment supporter who is not opposed to the forthcoming McCarthy bill re: magazine capacity. While I realize that this doesn’t describe you personally, I’d be very grateful if you could put me in touch with a contributor or any other gun owner who would not oppose this bill. Let me know if anyone comes to mind. Thanks very much. [email srosen@wbur.org]

Best,
Matthew Baskin

First NPR is asking the impossible, you can’t support the second amendment and not oppose a gun control law. Second they’re completely silencing those who oppose McCarthy’s bill. Make no mistake here, NPR is not neutral and they are against your right to keep and bear arms. I don’t know where people developed the idea that NPR is a neutral entity because they receive government funding which means they’re most likely going to tow the statist line so they can continue receiving funding.

I doubt you’ll ever see an NPR special on the evils of big government or a show advocating for nullification of unjust laws. They aren’t going to bite the hand that feeds them.

Major Editorial Oversight

Read the following article and see if you can point out the editorial oversight, I’ll wait.

Found it?

While walking home from the busstop this week, a 13-year-old Norwegian school boy stumbled upon four wolves. In the end, it may have been his love of heavy-metal music by the band Creed that saved his life.

Emphasis mine. You know an editor isn’t doing their job when heavy-metal and Creed appear in the same sentence without some kind of not operator included. Creed isn’t metal.

Likewise if I were a pack of wolves I’d fucking run if somebody blared Creed at me. Hell I’m a human being and I try to avoid listening to Creed. I’d say those wolves were probably a sign from Thor to the kid telling him to stop listening to shitty music. Next time it’ll be deaf wolves, just sayin’.