Truth vs. Hysteria

Ancient History

Mug Shot

Here are the headlines copied directly from Drudge, July 14, 2013 - the day after the Zimmerman "not guilty" verdict:

• ZIMMERMAN: FREE... 
• Sheriff appeals for calm... 
• Demonstrators in cities across country... 
• CA protesters break windows, start fires... 
• Teen threatens 'mass homicide' on TWITTER... 
• NY Giants Star: 'Zimmerman Doesn't Last a Year Before the Hood Catches Up to Him'...  
• Beyonce holds moment of silence at concert... 
• Celebs React... 
• AP REPORTER: 'SO WE CAN ALL KILL TEENAGERS NOW?' 
• Sharpton: 'Slap in the Face'... 
• NAACP calls on Obama admin to pursue civil rights charges...  
• Nearly 400K Sign Petition... 
• Holder Faces Big Decision... 
• Sen. Reid: 'This isn't over'... 
• PAPER: State never proved case... 
• Zimmerman attorney: 'Disgraceful'...  
• Will jury remain anonymous? 
• TIMELINE: Media's prosecution of Zimmerman...

It looks as if the media and our political and cultural "leaders" think we're still living in the land of To Kill a Mockingbird - fiction when it was published in 1960. Some of those headlines are downright disgusting, e.g.,  AP REPORTER: 'SO WE CAN ALL KILL TEENAGERS NOW?'  Hey AP Reporter (reporter?!), the jury saw all of the evidence that was presented in the case. The prosecutor and the defense gave their best arguments. The judge was not impartial, and there is evidence that she was being pressured by the Obama regime, of all things. Traditionally, American jurisprudence has held that a man is innocent until proven guilty. If this is what now passes for impartiality in our government, then Houston, we have a problem.

Even with all the pressure, the jury voted to acquit. In other words, they could not vote with a clear conscience, that George Zimmerman had murdered Trayvon Martin with malice and forethought. Hell, they couldn't even bring themselves to assume, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Zimmerman was guilty of manslaughter. The self-defense defense must have been remarkably compelling.

So no, we cannot all kill teenagers now. But maybe if a hulking grown man who hasn't quite reached the age of 20 starts slamming your head into concrete, and bloodies your nose, with no sign of stopping any time soon, you can shoot him. But you'd better still expect the hassle of your life, and don't expect impartiality under the current regime.

Born 1930 - 1969

Adapted from an email circulating the interweb:

To all the kids who survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's:

• We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. 

• They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. 

• Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with brightly colored lead-base paints. 

• We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets on our heads. 

• As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. 

• Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. 

• We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. 

• We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. 

• We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.

• We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. 

• And, we weren't overweight. 

Why? Because we were always outside playing -- that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were okay. 

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have PlayStations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. We had friends, and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one of them, congratulations! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .

While you are at it, tell your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

That was me, exactly. Okay, my mom never smoked, and my folks wouldn't let me have a BB gun. They bought me a Ruger 10-22 rifle instead, and taught me how to use it safely. And my dad's cars were always the best maintained in the neighborhood. He installed his own safety belts before the nanny state forced us to have them. But life was better then. Freer then. Maybe a bit more exciting, and it was worth it. 

Their Denials are Meaningless!

I occasionally listen to Security Now! with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte, a tech webcast about security and privacy, because it is relevant to my profession. It is about computer security and how things like encryption work. This is not a political series. So I was quite surprised when I heard this exchange on episode SN410:

Steve: Okay. So The New York Times article, this is Bruce writing: "This article on the cozy relationship between the commercial personal-data industry and the intelligence industry has new information on the security of Skype." So now switching to The New York Times article, quoting from that: "Skype, the Internet-based calling service, began its own secret program, Project Chess, to explore the legal and technical issues in making Skype calls readily available to intelligence agencies and law enforcement officials, according to..."

Leo: This is way pre-Microsoft. This is under eBay.

Steve: Yes. Years, years. Yes, yes, "...according to people briefed on the program who asked not to be named to avoid trouble with the intelligence agencies. Project Chess, which has never been previously disclosed, was small, limited to fewer than a dozen people inside Skype, and was developed as the company had sometimes contentious talks with the government over legal issues, said one of the people briefed on the project. The project began about five years ago, before most of the company was sold by its parent, eBay, to outside investors in 2009. Microsoft acquired Skype in an $8.5 billion deal that was completed in October 2011. "A Skype executive denied last year in a blog post that recent changes in the way Skype operated were made at the behest of Microsoft to make snooping easier for law enforcement. It appears, however, that Skype figured out how to cooperate with the intelligence community before Microsoft took over the company, according to documents leaked by [none other than] Edward J. Snowden, a former contractor for the NSA. One of the documents about the PRISM program made public by Mr. Snowden says Skype joined PRISM on February 6, 2011." So about six months prior to Microsoft's closing their acquisition deal.

So back to Bruce Schneier, who continues his blog, saying, "Reread that Skype denial from last July, knowing that at the time the company knew that they were giving the NSA access to customer communications. Notice how it is precisely worded to be technically accurate, yet leave the reader with the wrong conclusion." And this is Bruce speaking, saying, "This is where we are with all the tech companies right now. We can't trust their denials, just as we can't trust the NSA - or the FBI - when it denies programs, capabilities, or practices. Back in January, we wondered whom Skype lets spy on their users. Now we know."

Leo: He points out, he says, Bruce says, you can't trust the NSA, and you can't trust these companies. Their denials are meaningless. So we just don't know what's going on.

Steve: We just, yeah, we don't know. In that article, as I mentioned before, was a quote from Dan Auerbach, who's a technology analyst with the EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. And I thought this was the best thing I read. He said, "We reached a tipping point, where the value of having user data rose beyond the cost of storing it. Now we have an incentive to keep it forever." And I think that's just exactly it. We know what's happened to the cost of storage in the last few years. It's just - it's ridiculous how large drives have become and how inexpensive per byte storage has become. At some point the cost to store drops so low that the perceived value of keeping everything outweighs it. And as he says, we've crossed that tipping point.

There is a lot more detail. You can read the entire show transcript here, or listen to the entire podcast here. Here is more information about Project Chess.

Now, what's really important to me is that this isn't just about Skype. Skype is just the one smoking gun. As the article says, "Their denials are meaningless." Until (if and only if) this is all really sorted out - with the transparency We the People all deserve, we can't trust anybody.

Pack'n'Stack, Baby, Yeah!

Sustainability, regionalization, carbon footprint claptrap... The government, the regime, wants to control where you live. Do we really want this?



Pack'n'Stack, baby, yeah! That's how we humans want to live.

Scandalabra!

I shamelessly plagiarized this article from Grouchy Old Cripple*. This is evidently circulating on the interweb as an email too:

Bob: “Did you hear about the Obama administration scandal?”

Jim: “You mean the Mexican gun running?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean dropping the case about the New Black Panther intimidation at the polls in Philadelphia?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the setting up of Seal Team 6?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the State Dept. lying about Benghazi?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the voter fraud?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the military not getting their votes counted?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean that 3 or 4 of Obama’s GAY boyfriends were mysteriously MURDERED when they came forward with claims he was gay too?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president demoralizing and breaking down the military?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president flying around the world apologizing for America?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president bowing to the Saudi Arabian king and other world leaders?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the Boston Bombing?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The NSA monitoring our phone calls, e-mails and everything else?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president wanting to kill Americans with drones without the benefit of the law?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president not complying with the War Powers Act on our Libyan intervention?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the $787 porkulus that didn’t stimulate the economy and didn’t keep unemployment under 8 percent?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “Giving 123 Technologies $300 Million and right after it declared bankruptcy it was sold to the Chinese?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president arming the Muslim Brotherhood?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The IRS targeting conservatives?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The DOJ spying on the press?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “Sebelius shaking down health insurance executives?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean lying about the cost of Obummercare?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “Giving SOLYNDRA $500 MILLION DOLLARS and right after they declared bankruptcy 3 months later the Chinese bought it?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president not following bankruptcy law in the GM and Chrysler bailouts and stiffing the bondholders?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The president’s ordering the release of nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants from jails and prisons and falsely blaming the sequester?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The president’s threat to impose gun control by Executive Order in order to bypass Congress?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The president’s repeated violation of the law requiring him to submit a budget no later than the first Monday in February?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The 2012 vote where 115% of all registered voters in some counties voted 100% for Obama?”
Bob: “No, the other one.

“Jim: “The president’s unconstitutional recess appointments in an attempt to circumvent the Senate’s advise-and-consent role?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “The State Department interfering with an Inspector General investigation on departmental sexual misconduct?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “HHS employees being given insider information on Medicare Advantage?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “Clinton, the IRS, Clapper and Holder all lying to Congress?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean claiming executive privilege and refusing to supply Congress with information on Fast and Furious and Eric Holder being held in contempt of Congress for it?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “You mean the president increasing the deficit more in four years than Bush 41 did in eight years?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”

Jim: “I give up! … Oh wait, I think I got it! You mean that 65 million low-information voters stuck us again with the most corrupt administration in American history?”

Bob: “THAT’S THE ONE!”

*Pushing the boundaries of bad taste and political incorrectness.

You Might Live in a Country Founded by Geniuses But Run by Idiots

From an email circulating on the interweb:

• If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If you have to get your parents' permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
• If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If a seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher's "cute," but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested "homes"... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If the government's plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can't find work ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more "safe" according to the government ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots. 
• If you are offended by this article, I'll bet you voted for the idiots who are running, and ruining our great country.

Courtesy of Uncle Richard.

IRS Corruption

Apologists for the IRS targeting certain groups for audits and application delays (the ones having "tea party" or "patriot" in their descriptions) will tell you that the IRS was overwhelmed by a multitude of applications from groups like these in the days prior to the 2012 election. These were the groups who wanted to make sure Barack Obama did not win re-election. As the argument goes, so many applications were received, that the agency had to filter out fraudulent claims of non-partisanship and non-profit status. You have been profiled! I guess what's not OK to do in airports is just fine to do at the IRS. It depends on whose ox is being gored.

I have heard people say that everyone should be outraged by this corruption, because although this transgression targeted the right, a future regime could target the left, and no-one is immune as long as government agencies are allowed to run unconstrained. It's a good argument, and maybe some people will believe it. I don't, and here's why:

1. The IRS is populated by career bureaucrats whose future earnings depend on a growing government.
2. The IRS is populated by unionized bureaucrats who are opposed to the founding principles. 
3. Many 'progressives' are of the Chicago/Alinsky thugocracy model (cf., the current regime), which teaches that the end justifies the means. While they are in power, they will use and abuse that power to accomplish what they believe is necessary and right. Not all 'progressives' work this way, but enough do to keep things ratcheting in the wrong direction.
4. Classical Liberals (LibClassics) believe in the founding principles (including Judeo-Christian values), which teaches that it is wrong to take advantage of political power, even to accomplish what they believe is necessary and right. This is by definition in the principles they hold. (By this definition, Richard Nixon was not a LibClassic.) Classical Liberals aren't holier than thou, but those principles are what makes them LibClassics.

Lib Classics are a rare breed in government. I am afraid the deck is stacked for more tyrannical, illiberal, corrupt government.