You just told me to refresh myself on period verbiage, so refresh yourself on period guns. You just jump all over the place to advocate for your little dick stick.
FreeRangeChicken @chicken_range
Tweeted on May 27, 2021
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday! Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail.
We have SCOTUS decisions. They have crude, juvenile, insults.—Joe]
The problem isn’t who is being picked to lead the ATF, the problem is that there an ATF to be lead.
Abolish it.
Robb Allen @ItsRobbAllen
Tweeted on May 29, 2021
[Why should there exist a government organization to regulate an specific enumerated right? Is there a government bureau for the regulation of churches?
See also: Some questions don’t make sense in a free society.—Joe]
All law-abiding citizens of this country are considered adults at the age of 18 for nearly all purposes. They can vote, enter into contracts, start businesses, get married and join the military. But the state prohibits them from exercising the fundamental right to bear arms, that is, to carry a handgun outside the home or in an automobile, even though the state allows other adults to obtain a license to carry firearms in public.
…
We’re asking the court to remedy this situation by issuing an injunction against further enforcement of the ban on our individual plaintiffs and other young adults facing the same situation. Citizens in this age group enjoy nearly all of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution except when it comes to the Second Amendment. This cannot be allowed to stand.
Alan M. Gottlieb
May 27, 2021
SAF FILES FEDERAL CHALLENGE TO ILL. CARRY BAN FOR YOUNG ADULTS
[Incrementalism at work.
It’s a good venue as well. Judges in the Seventh Circuit have been good to us.—Joe]
Red August was effectively a series of politically motivated riots; however, the riots were not stopped by the police force of China. The Red Guards often received official protection from the police, who instead enacted harsh measures against anyone who dared to resist Mao’s Red Guards. Red August is generally considered the beginning of the Red Terror in China. Red Guards from Beijing No. 6 High School famously wrote “Long Live Red Terror!” on the wall with the blood of their victims.
It is easy to get bogged down in the various details of the Cultural Revolution, but it is the broader points that are most important. The Cultural Revolution was, at least ostensibly, wages against “the Five Black Categories:” landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, bad influences, and rightists and “the Four Olds:” Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Customs.
…
Finally, it is worth noting the ferocity with which people were attacked for holding opinions that were until very recently uncontroversial. There was a massive, hysterical push to destroy symbols of Chinese history that had become unfavorable due to the current political climate. Those who were being persecuted by the government were, somewhat perversely, painted as if they were an oppressive class being uprooted by a revolutionary government that was going to equalize society by addressing historical injustices.
Sam Jacobs
May 2021
How Totalitarianism Rhymes Throughout History: Czechoslovakia, China, & Venezuela
[Does this sound familiar? Perhaps even “rhyme” with current events?
Take appropriate action.—Joe]
Via daughter Jaime:
Crypto enthusiasts call me a Luddite, statist, technophobe or worse. Asset bubbles are maintained by a common narrative, and anyone who dares question it must be attacked. But a growing chorus is pointing out the emperor has no clothes.
Lee Reiners
May 25, 2021
Ban Cryptocurrency to Fight Ransomware
[I’m certainly no fan of cryptocurrency. I might even concede that banning it would put a serious dent in ransomware. But I am very reluctant to advocate a ban on it. Doesn’t the First Amendment protect it?
When I first heard of Bitcoin I was rather enthused about it until I discovered it wasn’t completely anonymous. Anonymous financial transactions are a critical component of a free society. Anonymous financial transactions with anyone in the world who has access to a computer would solve a lot of freedom issues. To the best of my knowledge all anonymous financial transactions still, and will in the foreseeable future, require a physical exchange.
Hence, I am inclined to agree with Reiners:
It isn’t obvious that cryptocurrency provides any benefit at all beyond the chance to make a quick buck. I have been studying the crypto market since its inception, and I have yet to identify a single task or process that crypto makes easier, better, cheaper or faster. Don’t take my word for it. Ask any friend why he owns cryptocurrency, and the answer will invariably be “to make money.” In other words, speculation.
With all the above in mind what I would like to see is the natural death via a loss of faith in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general such that it can’t be used for criminal acts.—Joe]
Write that down and pin it to the corkboard in your office.
It will turn out to be one of the greatest understatements you will have ever made.
Not that quantum computing will not produce many absolutely amazing positive results, it will, but the view of them will be obscured by all the smoking craters QC causes.
Francisco
May 25, 2021
Comment to Quantum computing as a threat to Bitcoin
[I’m currently of the opinion the positive results will be on par with the smoking craters. But I’m not knowledgable enough on the subject to claim any expertise.
We live in interesting times.—Joe]
About a week ago a reader sent me an email:
Subject: Gun Registration Fail
An important part of the DC Police hack that nobody is covering or even speculating on:
DC has gun registration, handled by the MPD.
Presumably (NO EVIDENCE OF THIS YET): The hackers now have:
A list of every legal gun owner in DC, with their home address, work address, birthplace, and Social Security number.
A list of every legal gun each gun owner owns.
The location that gun is kept in the home (DC requires this information as part of the registration process).
A list of every Carry Permit holder in DC.you can find the Reg form here for the information collected, and _potentially_ stolen/hacked.
https://mpdc.dc.gov/node/1494261
I’ve been looking and waiting for evidence the security breach (see also here) affected gun owner in D.C. I’ve not seen any yet.
Regardless, this is an additional risk of gun and gun owner registration. And not just to gun owners. If the bad guys have a list of all the gun owners in a city that means they also know which homes don’t have gun owners. Hence, they can create their own list of soft targets.
This is just one of the risks, to the entire population, of the illegal registration of an inalienable right.
In Texas:
A measure allowing Texans to carry a firearm without a license is on the brink of becoming a law after the state Senate on Monday approved the bill, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has pledged to sign the Republican-championed legislation into law.
The bill makes legal what gun rights advocates have dubbed “constitutional carry,” or permitless carry. It would allow Texans over the age of 21 to carry a firearm without first obtaining a license as long as they are not barred by state or federal law from doing so. Under current law, Texans are generally required to have a license to carry a handgun either openly or concealed.
More than a dozen other states have similar laws on the books.
It wasn’t that long ago that Texas finally stopped infringing upon the rights of people who wished to openly carry a firearm. And it was in 1995 which concealed carry was legalized (this last link has a great history of the incrementalism of concealed carry laws in the entire country).
Now Texans will soon have constitutional carry.
At least for concealed carry of firearms the pragmatic incrementalism has worked. The principled approach of all or nothing does not have appeared to significantly contributed to our nationwide success in restoring this fundamental right.
Is this some sort of communist takeover and a sign of things to come?
Squatters take over multimillion-dollar Sammamish home, police say hands are tied
…
Neighbors identified the two people as the squatters and both were arrested for burglary, according to Pingrey. Both were out of jail within days and headed back to the home, bringing more people with them.
“After they were out of jail, we had a large group trying to get back into the house,” Pingrey said. “No one was supposed to be there. The homeowners were not allowing anyone to stay there.”
Taking the advice of local prosecutors and lawyers, Pingrey said law enforcement is limited in what they can do. His frustrations hit a boiling point when the squatters demanded to be allowed to take property inside the home with them. Pingrey said, legally, his hands were tied and officers conducted a “civil standby.”
Pictures taken by a neighbor show police vehicles lined up on the street with officers watching, as the squatters filled a U-Haul truck with items inside. Another picture shows a garage full of appliances, including an ATM.
“We were not allowed to go in there with them and had to allow them to take this property out,” Pingrey said. “The person who had been illegally living there (was able) to come in and get what they stated was their property.”
Or is it some sort of misguided law with a loophole being exploited?
I learned about racism, slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and the Trail of Tears in my K-12 education. I never learned about the Holodomor, Cultural Revolution, and 100 million dead from global communism. American schools haven’t “whitewashed” history; they’ve “redwashed” it.
Christopher F. Rufo @realchrisrufo
Tweeted on May 24, 2021
[Via daughter Jaime.
It’s been a long time since I looked at school history book but I suspect this is a valid point.—Joe]
Another threat to Bitcoin. Quantum computing:
Quantum computers and the Bitcoin blockchain
An analysis of the impact quantum computers might have on the Bitcoin blockchain
Regarding the threat from a quantum computer, the public key is directly obtainable from the address. Since all transactions in Bitcoin are public, anyone can obtain the public key from any p2pk address. A quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could then be used to derive the private key from this address. This would allow an adversary who has a quantum computer to spend the coins that the address had.
Google Aims for Commercial-Grade Quantum Computer by 2029.
A friend who was lured out of early retirement after multiple successful startups claims he has held a million (IIRC) qubit chip in his hand. He told me about this in January of 2020 when he was seeking funding to take it commercial. The last time I talked to him about this COVID had halted his funding quest.
Whether it is Google, IBM, Microsoft, other big names, or any number of startups who want a piece of the pie quantum computing is going shake up a lot of things. Bitcoin, at least as we know it, will probably be an early casualty but it will be far from the only one.
There is some part of the DNA, I don’t have it but some people do, where they just wake up in the morning and they just want to tell people what to do… You do this, do that, etc.
And there’s no end to it. Even if you agree they will have something else. I’m kinda like, just get on your bike and do what you like. I try to leave people alone.
The point being … something like COVID becomes a platform and a perfect cover and a perfect excuse for the inner neo fascist in people all over the world and those in political positions. And they cannot resist the opportunity to boss people around. And the way you do this, it’s tried and true, you put people in fear. You make people very, very, fearful. You tell them they are going to die if they don’t listen to you.
Jim Rickards
May 5, 2021
[Via The New Great Depression, with Jim Rickards.—Joe]
Joe – Stood in the caldera.
Videos later.
Unexplainably awesome.
Ry
Postcard from May 2021
[I received the postcard yesterday:
I watched the video a few days ago:
The beginning is, “That’s kind of cool.”
At one minute, “Oh! This is more interesting.”
At two minutes, “OH! THAT! IS! AWESOME!”
Watch full screen with the volume up a bit.—Joe]
Ban all semi-automatic firearms with removable magazines or internal magazines greater than 10 rounds.
Benobos @BenGreggTang
Tweeted on May 20, 2021
[The tweet is now deleted or at least hidden. I have to wonder why. Did he change his mind or just didn’t want to confront reality?
Regardless of the reason don’t ever let anyone get away with saying “No one wants to take your guns.”—Joe]
Mock the media. There is no institution with a more inflated sense of itself than the press – that smug self-satisfaction is one of the things that helps make up for the crummy pay (though most young journalists today are rich kids whose birthing parent and daddy subsidize them). Your refusal to pretend that these oafs deserve respect causes them no end of fussy fury. So, refuse.
The media hates you. You owe it nothing. Give it nothing, except your contempt.
Kurt Schlichter
May 17, 2021
The Media Hates You And Is Shocked That You Hate It Back
[Good advice.—Joe]
You can be cooking meth and sleeping with hookers, but as long as, apparently, you didn’t vote for Trump. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone a bit with the whole concept of it.
Kirstie Alley
May 19, 2021
Kirstie Alley opens up about backlash she received for Trump support: ‘Blackballing situation’
[I’m not going to post it here because it is so incredibly horrible, but the picture of Alley they used tells us what the publisher thinks of people who voted for Trump. This is what they think of people of people who do not agree with their politics.
“Twilight Zone”? Yeah. It’s sort of like that. But if you have read a little about genocides you will quickly realize what we are seeing isn’t just something from a television series writer’s imagination. This could easily be history in the making.
Prepare and respond appropriately.—Joe]
After gold being below $1700 in March and now near $1900/ounce we have this:
Bitcoin, ethereum plunge as sell-off smashes crypto sector:
Bitcoin and ether tumbled on Wednesday to 3-1/2 month lows, on track to post their largest one-day loss since March last year, in the wake of China’s move a day ago to ban financial and payment institutions from providing cryptocurrency services.
At one point during the meltdown, nearly $1 trillion was wiped off the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization.
…
“Bitcoin’s sharp price drop should come as no shock to the market,” said Gavin Smith, chief executive officer of crypto consortium Panxora.
“Any asset which has risen as much as bitcoin over the past year can be expected to have pullbacks as some investors withdraw profits, like we’re currently seeing. While often a brilliant investment opportunity, traders must remember that Bitcoin is still an emerging asset class and will continue to experience large price swings,” he added.
It’s only a brilliant investment opportunity if you don’t have any moral qualms about “fleecing the sheep” and have good timing.
This is no surprise to me and apparently not Tam either.
As Tal Bachman notes at Steynonline, it’s now our state religion, a state religion in a country that—constitutionally and for good reason—isn’t supposed to have one.
But “Wokism” is yet more than that, too. It’s a mass psychosis similar to many that have arisen throughout history when the masses followed leaders who, in their zeal or self-interest, took them to disastrous ends.
Roger L. Simon
May 9, 2021
How ‘Woke’ May Be Leading Us to Civil War
[See yesterday’s QOTD as well.—Joe]
Wokism is now the official state religion of the United States of America.
By constitutional standards, this means something has gone wrong. The United States isn’t supposed to have a state religion. The First Amendment specifically prohibits the establishment of a state religion. Yet it now has one, and its name is Wokism.
Tal Bachman
May 7, 2021
We Have Met the Enemy, part II
[And as everyone should well know Theocracies are some of the most dangerous forms of government known. Combined with socialism/communism, as this one is, and the deadliness is indisputable.
Take appropriate action.—Joe]