Monthly Archives: September 2007

I wonder what Battelle Columbus is up to

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The jerks at PNNL I used to work for report back to Battelle headquarters in Columbus Ohio. It appears I just had a visit from them:

Domain Name   rr.com ? (Commercial)
IP Address   65.24.154.# (Road Runner)
ISP   Road Runner
Location  
Continent  :  North America
Country  :  United States  (Facts)
State  :  Ohio
City  :  Columbus
Lat/Long  :  39.9968, -82.9882 (Map)
Distance  :  1,755 miles
Language   English (U.S.)
en-us
Operating System   Microsoft WinNT
Browser   Internet Explorer 7.0
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506; Media Center PC 5.0)
Javascript   version 1.3
Monitor  

Resolution  :  1280 x 800
Color Depth  :  16 bits

Time of Visit   Sep 22 2007 12:53:04 pm
Last Page View   Sep 22 2007 1:10:13 pm
Visit Length   17 minutes 9 seconds
Page Views   9
Referring URL http://search.live.c…uffman.org&FORM=USNO
Search Engine search.live.com
Search Words blog.joehuffman.org
Visit Entry Page   http://cc.msnscache….lang=en-US&FORM=CVRE
Visit Exit Page   http://blog.joehuffm…w,category,PNNL.aspx
Out Click   a story which was published today
http://www.tri-cityh…58717p-9075291c.html
Time Zone   UTC-5:00
Visitor’s Time   Sep 22 2007 3:53:04 pm
Visit Number   193,489

Machine gun interest

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I never was one who was interested in fast or flashy cars. Vehicles, to me, are a means to transport people and things from point A to point B. I once had a long series of conversations with this guy named Walter about cars and women. He figured that a nice car was essential to finding a nice woman. He drove a Mercedes when I first met him. Then it was some sort of flashy looking muscle car. I forget the make and model. I just don’t pay attention to that sort of thing. Then after he hit it big he bought a brand new, bright red, Ferrari. Within a day or so after buying it he came over to my place to show it off. “That’s nice Walter.” I just wasn’t interested. And when we went for a ride I couldn’t sit up straight. It was extremely uncomfortable for me. I just can’t see the point. The only way I could see getting something that “over the top” is if it were REALLY over the top. If it could spread wings and fly at 300 MPH then I could see the appeal. But to be merely 50% faster than an ordinary car just seems pointless to me.

I feel the same way about machine guns. I just don’t get the appeal. I’ve shot them a few times. And sure, they put a lot of lead down range in a short period of time but so what? I can put more pieces of lead on target with a semi-auto in any realistic situation that I can imagine myself being in. There isn’t even someone like Walter who could plausibly argue that machine guns will attract the babes–so what is the appeal? I really don’t get it.

That said, I just saw the analog in the machine gun world of the car that can spread wings and fly at 300 MPH.

I told Barb this is what I want for Christmas:

Video: VIP Protection Tool

P.S. After a decade of faster and faster, flasher and flasher cars Walter eventually did find a woman that would marry him. Barb and I always figured it would be a gold-digger that took him for a ride since that seemed to be what he was advertising for. But the reports I got back (he is on my “every time I see his face I involuntarily start to draw my gun” list now) is that she appeared to be an alcoholic instead.

Quote of the day–John Gilmore

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We have to realize that people who run the government can and do change.  Our society and laws must assume that bad people – criminals even – will run the government, at least part of the time.

John Gilmore
A transcript of remarks given at the First Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy, March 28,1991
[Gilmore’s primary concern is privacy. He is a big name in the opposition to a national ID card, unreasonable search and seizure, etc. But the justification for that concern, as stated above, is also applicable to being opposed to restrictions on firearms.–Joe]

In Boston, of course

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Of course it was in Boston where the cops all went bonkers because someone was carrying around some wires and LEDs (via Bruce):

Star Simpson was charged with possessing a hoax device today at Logan International Airport for wearing a sweatshirt that had a circuit board affixed to the front with green LED lights and wires running to a 9-volt battery.

This is not a bomb:

And furthermore, being the nit-picky engineer that I am, it’s a breadboard, not a circuit board.

If someone wanted to carry a bomb around at the airport they would almost for certain put it in a suitcase instead of wearing it in the open on their sweatshirt. And since it was in the open you can easily see there is no detonator and no explosives attached. But this is Boston. And so:

Outside the terminal, Simpson was surrounded by police holding machine guns.

“She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands, and not make any movement so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device,” Pare said at a press conference at Logan. “There was obviously a concern that had she not followed the protocol … we may have used deadly force.”

Simpson was arrested…

Bruce says Refuse to be Terrorized. I say Boston was just exercising their authority as a police state. And the police probably hadn’t gotten to play with the sub-guns in weeks. They had to justify having their toys by actually pointing them as someone occasionally.

I do agree with Bruce that the true terrorists are probably laughing at us.

Quote of the day–H. L. Mencken

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Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

H. L. Mencken
[I keep thinking there has got to be a better system. The competing political systems of today are a minimum of 100 years old. Our communication technology, mass media, and perhaps other technology surely make some sort of new freedom based political system viable rather than enhancing a police state. But what is it?–Joe]

Bigoted Moscow Idaho Mayor is told by AG to back off

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Just today I received a copy of the letter the Idaho Attorney General sent to the Moscow City Attorney.

If you recall our Mayor wanted to ban guns in public places. The AG told her in legalize via the Moscow City Attorney to not even try going there.

I wish he had warned she was dangerously close to committing a felony but that is expecting too much even for Idaho in today’s political climate. We need to work on that for a few more years first.

Robyn Ringler stopped by again

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Domain Name   verizon.net ? (Network)
IP Address   68.236.146.# (Verizon)
ISP   Verizon Internet Services
Location  
Continent  :  North America
Country  :  United States  (Facts)
State  :  New York
City  :  Rexford
Lat/Long  :  42.843, -73.8583 (Map)
Distance  :  2,105 miles
Language   English (U.S.)
en-us
Operating System   Microsoft WinME
Browser   Internet Explorer 5.5
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows 98; Win 9x 4.90)
Javascript   version 1.3
Monitor  

Resolution  :  800 x 600
Color Depth  :  16 bits

Time of Visit   Sep 20 2007 5:57:21 pm
Last Page View   Sep 20 2007 5:57:21 pm
Visit Length   0 seconds
Page Views   1
Referring URL http://blogs.timesun…/underfire/wp-admin/
Visit Entry Page   http://blog.joehuffm…ppedByAFewTimes.aspx
Visit Exit Page   http://blog.joehuffm…ppedByAFewTimes.aspx
Out Click    
Time Zone   UTC-5:00
Visitor’s Time   Sep 20 2007 8:57:21 pm
Visit Number   193,023

 Previous visits were documented here.

Interesting use for them

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Men have a source of potentially life-saving stem cells between their legs:

A team of American researchers has found a way to easily identify stem cells in the testicles of adult mice that can be coaxed to turn into brain cells, muscle cells, heart cells, blood cells and even blood vessels.

One day, they say, male patients may be able to turn to their own testicles as a source of stem cells to repair an ailing heart or kidney or to fix the brain damage caused by Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

The procedure would involve removing a small piece of testicle – about the same amount used for a biopsy.

The first question that comes to my mind is, “Can you repair the damage you did to my testicle?” They don’t answer that question in the article. I presume the answer is yes, but I’d want to make sure before I authorized a major overhaul of my other body parts. I’d hate to have the rest of my body in full working order and then find they had scrapped out my testicles in the process.

I guess that’s one way to waste £200million

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From the U.K. we find (via Bruce):

A comparison of the number of cameras in each London borough with the proportion of crimes solved there found that police are no more likely to catch offenders in areas with hundreds of cameras than in those with hardly any.

In fact, four out of five of the boroughs with the most cameras have a record of solving crime that is below average.

[…]

We have estimated that CCTV cameras have cost the taxpayer in the region of £200million in the last 10 years but it’s not entirely clear if some of that money would not have been better spent on police officers.

Not entirely clear? What could be more clear? It appears that the rate of crime resolution is inversely proportional to the number of cameras present.

But they are apparently so accustom to Big Brother being there they are afraid to consider his absence. But don’t expect them to remove the cameras and spend the money on something better like more police and/or better enforcement. You should expect them to conclude they don’t have enough cameras and to increase proselytization. It’s just one of those things about human nature that is hard to accept.

Just So We’re All On The Same Page…

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…regarding the police chiefs out there (who, we are told, have come out against the Second Amendment): Every law enforcement officer is required to take an Oath, affirming said officer’s commitment to the Constitution of the United States.  Here is one example taken at random.  I’m sure you can find many others:

“I swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland and support the Constitution and laws thereof; and that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment diligently and faithfully, without partiality or prejudice, execute the office of police officer according to the Constitution and laws of this State.”

Notice the first clause– support for the U.S. Constitution.  Taking an Oath not only suggests or recommends, but it requires individual judgment and individual commitment to the U.S. Constitution when deciding to follow a particular order or enforce a particular law.  It requires, in this case, that the sworn individual understand the Constitutionality of an action before taking that action.  Why else take the damned Oath?

The Nuremburg defense doesn’t cut it here.

On the matter of law enforcement officers who have taken the Oath, and who then actively lobby against our Constitutionally protected civil liberties:  Words fail me at the moment, but I’m envisioning a physician who takes the Hippocratic Oath and sets out thereafter to murder his patients.

To you chiefs of police out there who are on the fence:  Be reminded that some of us actually take our civil liberties seriously.  Just sayin’.

Update 09/21/07:  Another reminder for our friends in law enforcement (and to law makers as well).  I use this example only because it is so well known, though there are plenty of other examples: In early 1942 there were a whole lot of German officers and government agents who were as cock-sure of themselves as anyone could be.  Their degree of swagger was quite an impressive sight to behold.  Only a few years later however, many of them were fugitives from justice, while others were swinging from ropes (things can change in short order, and being on the right side of Liberty is good insurance).  As Joe points out in comments, there is this little thingy we call 18 USC 242.  Not that it would be needed as the Constitution already spells out the law in plain English, but here we have teeth, out in front of the brain, as it were.

Quote of the day–Cam Edwards

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This is an anti-gun report bought and paid for by an anti-gun foundation, assembled by anti-gunners from the Joyce Foundation, Harvard, and the Violence Policy Center. I’ve seen more serious studies written by Carrot Top and Larry the Cable Guy.

[…]

They’re officially parodies of themselves.

Cam Edwards
September 19, 2007
What A Tangled Web They Weave
[Yup. See also what Uncle has to say about it.–Joe]

Funny

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Old “fake but accurate” Dan Rather is suing CBS:

The lawsuit, first reported by The New York Times, alleges that CBS violated Rather’s contract by giving him insufficient airtime on 60 Minutes after he was ousted from the anchor seat at the CBS Evening News in March of 2005. It also claims that the company commissioned a biased investigation into the Texas National Guard controversy, resulting in a flawed report that “seriously damaged his reputation.”

[…]

The suit says the public apology Rather offered to viewers and to Bush on his newscast on Sept. 20, 2004 was written by a CBS corporate publicist, and that he delivered it “despite his own personal feelings that no public apology from him was warranted.”

It’s amazing isn’t it? It was conclusively proven the memo he reported on was a fake but no apology was warranted. Had he been getting away with that sort of crap for so long that he thought it was acceptable? If so then how much damage did he do before he finally got caught? His betrayal of the public trust should have required of him something much more substantial than a public apology. It should have been an exceedingly stiff fine and perhaps some jail time.

Gun porn

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Son James and I watch DVDs of some Science Fiction TV series together nearly every Monday evening. Until we got all caught up with the releases we were watching four episodes of Stargate SG-1 each get together.

About three weeks ago Sean and I checked out a gun store that he had never been to and I had only been to once about 18 months ago. The wall looked like this:

James has been saying he needs to buy a gun. And right there, in plain sight, was a suppressed PS-90 TR (Triple Rail, semi-auto version of the P-90 used by SG-1 as they battle evil aliens from all over the galaxy). I tried to get James to buy it with his bonus money but he was too smart for that. It’s space-a-roma (I think that was the word Sean used) appeal is very high but neither James nor I have a use for one.

A good sign

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I’ve been corresponding with a 13 year-old kid that started out saying he wanted to make bombs but there was enough information that indicated he had no intention of hurting anyone or their property. He was just using the wrong word for his desired activities. Rather than ignore him or turn him in to the police in his area I politely declined to help and suggested he attend Boomershoot 2008 since he lives in Idaho. Tonight, after six emails from him in 36 hours, he asked:

Can you give me the URL for the website of pain full pics of pipe bomb retards?

I recently told a friend of mine i made small explosives for recreational uses, and he said “oh yeah i should come to your house and we can make a pipe bomb”

I told him he was being stupid and, before he made explosives needed to do his homework. I told him id try to find the page i saw and show him how dumb his idea really was.

Cool. Maybe he will make it to adulthood.

This (WARNING! Extremely graphic!) is the link.

And speaking of bombs–if you are a suicide bomber intent on taking out some of our boys in the sandbox with itchy fingers on their “.50 caliber sniper rifles” keep (more extremely graphic material!) this in mind.

Quote of the day–Ronald Reagan

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The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

Ronald Reagan
[The difference I saw between working on government contracts as a “Senior Research Scientist II” at PNNL (I was once told I would be considered a “god” if I had a PhD) and working at Microsoft as a Software Development Engineer was like teaching high school Freshman versus earning my MSEE. But you don’t need to be an engineer to see the truth of Reagan’s statement. Just look an some of our government agencies, like the TSA. This is just part of the reason why government should be limited; they are too stupid to spend our money wisely.–Joe]

Place your bets

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IBM put 35 programmers on a free OpenOffice offering that will compete with Microsoft Office. I don’t know how many programmers Microsoft has working on Office but I know they take up most, if not all, of buildings 16, 17, and 18. Each of those buildings are large three-story buildings.

IBM versus Microsoft. Free versus expensive. 35 versus hundreds (include our son James).

Hmmmm…. place your bets with your broker. I put all my chips on Microsoft.

Unobscuring Kip Hawley

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TSA head Kip Hawley (http://www.kiphawleyisanidiot.com/) attempts to explain the reason for the three ounce limit on liquids and why the rule is reasonable. He is deliberately obscure in places:

“This is something we thought a lot about. There’s a whole classified section to the answer, but in the unclassified part we are limited to discussing, with 3-1-1, the major focus was first, to stop assembled bombs,” he said.

“The nature of liquid explosives is that they are very volatile, unlike military-grade explosives that react predictably. With homemade explosives, while the benefit is that they are made of easy-to-get ingredients, the downside is that you get widely different results for the same quote-unquote recipe.

“If you’re going to use these explosives in the aviation context, you have to be very precise in the mixing because, as we found in the testing, minor variations in formula have a very dramatic effect on whether or not the explosives are successful.

“So 3-1-1- eliminates the ability to assemble the ingredients in a laboratory, using expert people to provide a finished bomb for somebody to use on a suicide mission on an airplane,” he said.

On a plane, mixing up a bomb in a suitable container “isn’t like mixing a beverage,” he said, adding: “This stuff is very volatile; it is very obvious; you can smell it a long way away. It’s very corrosive.”

The volatile stuff he’s talking about would be the acetone used to make acetone peroxide. And yes acetone is very smelly. I have never made acetone peroxide and have no plans to. It’s called “Mother of Satan” for a reason.

The “very corrosive” stuff would be nitric and sulfuric acids used to make nitroglycerin; probably the most well known of all liquid explosives.

Yup. Mixing up either of those explosives without being noticed would be difficult on a plane. The acetone in particular is very noticeable. Finger polish remover is frequently acetone. So if someone starts working on removing their fingernail polish don’t be surprised if you see the flight crew getting a little excited about finding the source of the smell.

The problem with the whole explosives testing thing is that there are lots of things made out of stuff they don’t, and essentially can’t, test for that make the whole exercise just A Security Theater. That money would be far better spent on finding the bad guys before they ever got to the airport. But don’t expect Hawley to tell you that. It’s not his job to tell you his job is a sham. His job is to make you feel safer. Do you feel safe yet?

Quote of the day–Mac Johnson

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The Founding Fathers systematically democratized the powers of society through the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They democratized the power of law through the right to vote. They democratized the power of wealth through the right to private property (since repealed by environmentalists and courts). They democratized the power of ideas through the right to free speech (since repealed by McCain/Feingold). And they democratized the power of violence (or the capability to commit it) through the right to bear arms (since repealed by “gun control”).

The four great powers of man: law, money, thought and violence were thus divided among the people and not reserved exclusively to the connected, the rich, the approved, and the enlisted. That’s the basis of our Republic. That’s America. And that is, apparently, a total surprise to liberals. 

Mac Johnson
Court Rediscovers 2nd Amendment, Liberals Fear Other ‘Rights’ May Soon be Found
March 15, 2007
[Liberals just got pwn’d in this very case. The D.C. lawyers messed up and the lawyers for the good guys just nailed their scrotums to the wall.–Joe]