Category: RKBA

Monday Links

September 9, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Sweet FSM. I miss a week and the articles stack up. This is going to be a long links post. A lot of gun/RKBA related stories this week.

Let’s start with our normal collection of Reason articles. And talking about RKBA-related stories…

How courts are evading the Bruen decision. Color me surprised that lawyers and judges (but I repeat myself) are trying to push the guardrails of new legal theory.

Eighth Circuit strikes down Missouri’s 2A Sanctuary law. These kinds of laws are why I think we need an amendment that allows at least a majority of states to nullify onerous federal laws.

Another parent being charged with murder because their offspring decided to murder schoolmates and teachers. I am highly skeptical of this trend, particularly since it feels like we’re burning the parents in effigy (legally speaking).

A historical look back on arms bans prior to the 20th century.

The Biden administration is trying to go ahead with its plan to cancel student debt. Even though it’s illegal and the Supreme Court has struck down pretty much all attempts. Oh yeah, that will help keep the cost of college down. If it didn’t cost so much, I’d almost be in favor of it to help burst the college bubble.

A thinkpiece on what the .gov could do to help with the housing crisis. In the same vein, here’s an analysis on what happened when the Dutch recent tried national rent control. Spoiler alert: it ended up hurting the people it was supposed to help. Cue surprised Pikachu.

A recent survey of college students find almost a third think violence is an acceptable form of protest. I’m a little leery since I didn’t see how they worded the questions, but someone needs to explain to these young adults that the means you think are fully justified for your cause are going to be adopted by your opposition because they now think they have permission. Come to think of it, that describes a lot of what’s gone wrong in this century.

Have we reached peak public schooling? This rolls into one of my soapboxes that the nation needs to have a serious discussion about what it wants out of public schools. Everyone will say they want to make “responsible and educated citizens.” But let’s face it. It’s also state-sponsored daycare for a lot of folks.

Idaho’s Child Care Program expanded benefits and now is facing a $16 million deficit. Either there were a lot more needy families or there were a lot folks just lining up to the trough. These days, it’s probably both.

And now for some Ground News aggregations.

Trump is concerned how expensive IVF is and wants insurance to pay for it. Proving once again that Trump is fine with handing out goodies if he thinks it will get him elected, and he still has no concept of economics.

Okay, yes, the WHO beclowned itself with its obsequience to China during the pandemic. Still, it’s nice to have another study showing that there’s no link between brain cancer and cell phones.

NVIDIA is getting a hard look by the DOJ for trying to lock customers into its products. Companies being asses tends to open up the market for competitors, but DOJ is going to DOJ.

The US, UK, and EU sign an AI treaty. Yeah, that has beneficial to the growth of the technology written all over it.

Now for some more RKBA and gun related content.

John Richardson is reporting that one of the NRA directors is advocating for firing the Brewer firm. Jettisoning that firm would be a strong sign that the NRA is healing.

Speaking of John, guess who’s going to be on the ballot to become part of the NRA Board? Honestly, if I could immediately vote in the election, this might get me to join back. I’m still in my wait and see period.

TTAG article on Polymer80 closing up shop after years of fighting “ghost gun” legislation. It’s sad to see Pyrrhic victories in the gun world.

I’ve got a slew of tech-related/adjacent articles.

From The Verge, an article about how new AI-powered photo editing tools will make it harder to believe what you see.

Also from The Verge, Ecoflow launching a new series of batteries/powerstations. Honestly, I’m loving the innovation and expansion in this segment. I think advances in battery tech are crucial to improving the overall health of the power grid.

From The New Yorker, an essay on why AI isn’t going to be making art. While I think AI will make art creation more accessible to more people, it’s not going to replace the spark of creativity in humans.

From Bloomberg, Intel’s problems is endangering the promise of the CHIPS Act. Damn, it’s like industrial policy can’t overrule business / economic rules. Or that maybe the government has a bad track record of choosing winning corporations.

Via Wired, the Internet Archive got slapped down for lending out copyrighted books willy-nilly on its platform.

From MacStories, Reeder is launching a revamped product. I use the current Reeder (soon to be known as Reeder Classic) to gather the various stories that tend to end up here. (h/t The Brother)

Not tech, but of local interest, the local news station has an article on Tervis filing Chapter 11 reorganization. The Ward household has many of their products and hope they come out stronger.

Geek Culture reports on Transformers new line combining TF characters with other IP forms. Of particular interest to me is the Macross collaboration. Although I doubt it’s going to be a re-issue of the G1 Jetfire toy.

Monday Links

August 26, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a weird one, as I have only one Reason article.

Albuquerque police chief thinks it’s okay for cops to turn off their body cams under their Fifth Amendment rights. Um, no.

Now for a couple of Ground News aggregations.

DOJ is going after a software firm saying that their algorithm allows landlords to raise rents.

Former deputy who killed airman is being charged with manslaughter. I would like to think that a private citizen would get the same consideration in terms of charging.

For news items from other sources.

Duke Medical study finds gun laws have mixed impact on suicide and homicide rates. Almost as if murder and suicide are complex problems that can’t be fixed with “one simple solution.”

The Guardian is reporting on trouble in the dating app world. Namely, the apps are losing users / subscribers.

AP is reporting that the Fed Chairman is signalling that they may reduce interest rates in the near future.

Local news station is advising people not to trust flood maps when deciding to buy flood insurance. Note to any new or prospective resident of Florida – you need flood insurance. I don’t care where you live in Florida, you need flood insurance.

The Verge is reporting that Chik-Fil-A is looking into launching a streaming service. Um, okay. Question. Will it run on Sundays?

Creative Loafing Tampa is reporting on Busch Gardens shutting down the Scorpion roller coaster. I remember when that coaster opened, and rode it a lot when I was younger, thinner, and able to ride coasters without feeling like I got bashed around.

Another Guardian article, but this one on the reveal of some of the major features of Civ 7. There’s been a lot of sturm und drang among the Civ FB groups on the changes. I’m going to wait until I’ve played before making judgements. I will say that I’m inordinately excited that rivers will now be navigable.

Via The Brother, there’s this nifty USGS site showing all of the world’s water in a sphere.

Monday Links

August 12, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a bit long. There’s a lot here on civil rights being threatened by both sides of the aisle.

Of course, we start with Reason links.

Venezuela’s Maduro is bad for both his own country, and the United States. I have a nasty feeling that country is going to be the latest example of “you can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way back out.”

A recent poll says the First Amendment gives too many protections. This is an example of a worrying trend where both sides want fewer civil rights so that they can use power against the other.

Speaking of free speech, the Trump mob came for Kyle Rittenhouse when he dared speak against their god-emperor. You want to know why I will never vote for Trump? It’s shit like this.

Justice Gorsuch is promoting his new book that we have too many laws allowing for prosecutors to abuse their power. This is why I’m in favor of removing prosecutorial immunity and replacing it with a malpractice model.

A piece on EU’s aggressive tech regulations made the CrowdStrike fiasco much worse.

Pacific Legal Foundation has a new report out on how to deal with squatters. The report makes the point that “squatters’ rights” bills hurt the people they purport to help – the poor. Which is so often a result of these kinds of laws.

Moving on to a couple of Ground News aggregations.

NVIDIA is the latest company to come into the regulators’ crosshairs.

Florida deputy rushes into a lake to rescue an autistic kindergartner. As much as I slam police abuses, sometimes it’s important to spotlight those who do the heroics.

Moving on to other sources and stories.

From Bloomberg, a federal judge rules Google violated anti-trust law. Considering the AI wave coming, I’m really getting late nineties Microsoft echoes. The most ridiculous claims the prosecutors put out? That because of Google’s dominant position in search, they failed to innovate and hurt consumers. Bitch, that’s what’s called a market opportunity.

From Gizmodo, Logitech had to walk back comments that hinted they were looking at a subscription model for a new mouse. I think we’re seeing the end of making everything a subscription.

From the Only Guns and Money blog, John Richardson has announced he’s seeking to run for the NRA Board of Directors. If you’re a voting member, go take a moment and help someone who would be a voice for reform.

This is from Fox News, so I’m not sure how click-baitey the story is. However, the fact that the Met’s Commissioner says it will seek extradition for folks violating their ridiculous social media laws regarding their recent rioting is enough to make me want to dig more. My immediate reaction is very Molon Labe. My next reaction is that it’s very rich that Britain has refused to extradite murderers because they were facing the “barbaric” death penalty. I think the American government would be in the right to tell the Brits that turnabout is fair play. My final thought is that the states should go tell the feds to pound sand if they try to extradite any of their residents to the Brits over this shit.

Via The Brother, we have this Ars Technica article about a Russian chess player poisoning their rival’s chessboard with mercury.

Finally, we have a couple of articles from The Wrap on Crunchyroll. First, Crunchyroll has surpassed 15 million subscribers. Second, a piece delving on how Crunchyroll is succeeding in the streaming wars. Honestly, I think a big part is how Crunchyroll understands it’s niche and isn’t out to become the next Netflix or Hulu.

Monday Links

August 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Reason time!

Here’s two takes on Biden’s Supreme Court reform proposals. One from the Volokh Conspiracy and one from Reason. My opinion? I like the idea of twenty year term limits on the Supreme Court, but if and only if the judicial filibuster is established in law. I would like some more generational turnover, but I don’t want justices becoming enmeshed in the campaign fray. Also, it would help if Congress would do their damned job.

Israel pulled off a pair of spectacular assassinations. You will excuse me if I’m unmoved by the death of terrorist leaders.

A thinkpiece on the current wave of political violence.

On to other news links.

The Brother sent me this link to an LA Times article on a Los Angeles UBI pilot that saw much more favorable results than the study I linked to last week from Reason.

Reporting from The Reload on the judge denying New York’s demand for a monitor over the NRA. Also, WLP is banned from holding a position in the NRA for a decade. There were also some other recommendations. I’m still leery of rejoining the NRA in light of the recent appointments of the old guard to key committees and reformers being almost exclusively shut out of those committees.

Turkey took silver in the mixed air pistol. One of their shooters has gone viral with his lack of gear and nonchalant shooting style. The gun blogosphere has been going all in on skills over gear.

Now for a trio of Florida-centric stories.

An article from the local news station that shockingly that the people showing up at the door to sell stuff ignore the laws about solicitation. This is the equivalent of them writing an article that Florida has a lot of storms in the summer. I treat every person who comes to my door selling something as a probable crook – either trying to scam me out of money or casing my place for robbing later.

Tampa Business Journal article reporting the bankruptcy of the century-old Florida furniture store Badcock. This is of interest in the Ward household because The Wife worked for Badcock for a stint, and we ended up with some furniture from them.

Finally, a story that caters to my weeb side, Japanese bargain store Daiso is coming to Tampa. In particular, the location looks like it’s not too far from Mom’s place.

Monday Links

June 24, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I’m going to deviate a bit from my normal flow due to the Rahimi ruling.

Here is Reason’s coverage.

Here’s The Reload’s coverage.

Here’s the Advisory Opinions podcast.

My two cents? This was the court walking back/modifying Text, History, Tradition because it didn’t like how it was shaking out in the lower courts. This also reinforces my thesis in last week’s post.

Now back to our normal programming, staring with our mix of Reason posts I found interesting.

Apparently New York lawmakers didn’t learn from an earlier USSC ruling and are threatening to ban insurance firms if they invest in fossil fuel programs.

ATF agents cleared in killing of a director of an executive airport. This one is being followed pretty heavily in the RKBA circles.

The US military was spreading anti-vax propaganda in China.

A man is suing Marion County SO for arresting him because he was filming them.

Florida’s loosened it’s labor laws for teens. It sounds kind of like taking them back to where they were when I was a manager at Mickey D’s.

Now on to other stories.

Another story from The Reload – this time about a Ukranian pushing for a version of the Second Amendment for his country. There’s also a bit in the article about how Miami PD held a gun buyback with the guns being sent to Ukraine. Honestly, if an org I trusted was collecting some guns to send over there, I might shake loose a couple.

From The Hill, comes a perfect example of kabuki theater around a real issue. I think the draft is against the Thirteenth Amendment. If you can’t get people to volunteer, then maybe it isn’t the existential threat you purport.

From TechCrunch, the US bans the sale of Kaspersky antivirus software due to security concerns over Russia.

Local news story about new Florida law prohibiting HOA’s from banning the parking of work trucks. This is a big bone of contention around here. With so many new developments, the HOA’s are still controlled by the builders – who are less than flexible about anything that doesn’t meet their esthetic.

From Ars Technica, a thinkpiece on if the USAF looking for a replacement for the F-16 means the F-35 program is a failure.

Finally, we end on a sad note. Miguel is shuttering GunFreeZone. When Miguel was still in Florida and running the blog, this was a go-to for the best information on Florida gun legislation. I’ll be honest, I stopped reading after Miguel left because JKB just rubbed me the wrong way. While I’m sort of unsurprised that he went too far, I’m sorry to see the blog go away. H/t John Richardson.

Supreme Court Ruling on Bump Stock Ban Is Not The Ruling You Think It Is

June 19, 2024 / / 1 Comment

The US Supreme Court struck down ATF’s rule banning bump stocks last week. Here’s The Reload’s coverage.

I listen to some legal podcasts. This is the legal equivalent of staying in a Holiday Inn Express. They have given some insights on how lawyers and judges see things as opposed to the general public. So, what insights did they impart about the ruling?

First and most important, this ruling was less about defending the Second Amendment, and more about telling Congress to do it’s damn job. The ruling is good, as a gun owner, due to ATF’s tendency to suddenly criminalize items that it said were perfectly legal. What the Supreme Court emphatically did not say was that a bump stock ban passed by Congress would be against the Second Amendment. If anything, their concurrences/dissents made it perfectly clear they wouldn’t have a problem with such a ban. And let’s be real, the general public has a fear of fully automatic weapons in the hands of people not in the military or police.

Second, we, as gun owners, need to stop relying on the dicta of “in common use” as a magic phrase to protect us from equipment bans. It’s not an official standard, and it can’t protect us like a rule ordering the use of strict scrutiny would’ve been.

Third, I don’t think “text, history, and tradition” will be the panacea some of us think. It feels like an originalist’s version of “making up what we want the Constitution to say”. I liked the levels of scrutiny as they had decades of precedence on how they should be determined or proscribed. It really comes down to having a process that has less “play in the joints” when it comes to rights. Especially rights that don’t have a long track record of protection – like say free speech.

So, what is the point of all this rambling? The courts are not our friends. When we start getting the Second Amendment edge cases, there will be other things that come into play. Stealing from a couple of “legal theories” that I heard on Advisory Opinions, we will be at the mercy of the “Bad Man Stays In Jail” and “Bad Cases Make Bad Laws”.

We still need to work with the legislatures, which means electing people who will actually get stuff through Congress and not grandstand for the television. We need to do outreach to those who are curious and try to meet them where they are at. The commanding heights of culture? Yeah, we need to change them, but I’m not savvy enough to opine on methodology.

As for me? I will do my best to be a good ambassador and voter.

Monday Links

June 17, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This week is a bit long. Reason starts us out.

First, a couple of articles relating to Hunter Biden’s conviction. One on the constitutional question of his conviction. I lean on the charge is bullshit, because I think the whole premise of banning people who might use drugs is bullshit. If they had convicted him on having the weapon on him while intoxicated, that would be a more reasonable charge. Anyways, this whole thing goes back to the infamous laptop, and we have an article on the media’s failure to own up to its mistakes on their coverage.

Reason covers the secret recordings of Alito done “Project Veritas”-style. The best descriptor of this story is that it’s a Rorsach test of your political priors.

Maybe charging teens with felonies for vandalism isn’t a good idea. Particularly if you’re going to ramp up the charges because you’re offended. Particularly in light of your failure to react the same when it wasn’t one of your sacred images.

On the good news front, preliminary UCR data shows deep declines in crime. More indications we’re coming out of the crazy that was the COVID lockdowns. I blame the lockdowns more for the sharp uptick in crime, and it looks like we’re trending back to baseline, at least in terms of crime.

Trump announced he wants to exempt tips from income tax. On one hand, I like this because it reduces the amount of bullshit reporting people have to do – or put them in jeopardy if they forget to do. On the other hand, I don’t trust Trump to get anything done if he’s elected (ask the gun lobby how much legislation they managed to get signed). On the gripping hand, I’m not sure I like the downstream impacts – either on the federal deficits or how wages will get structured in the labor market.

Let’s ban flavored vaping for the children! What do you mean teen smoking goes up in response? Is vaping a good habit to have? Probably not. Is it orders of magnitude better than smoking tobacco? Fuck yes. I swear, public health officials should be forced to take real economics. You know, the one where you learn there are no perfect solutions, only more optimal trade-offs.

Going on to other news.

I have a Ground News aggregation on how US soldiers are nine times more likely to die by suicide than combat action. Suicide is an epidemic in our society. Particularly for those of us who fear getting help will result in our guns or livelihoods being taken away. For gunnies, I’m going to recommend going to the Walk The Talk America site.

More Fulton County drama, but this time in the Young Thug trial. The judge wanted to jail the defense attorney for contempt after said attorney refused to disclose how he learned about an exparte meeting between the judge and the prosecution. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed that. Still, the defense lawyer made the baller statement of if the judge was going to throw him in jail, could he be jailed with his client so they could work on his defense?

The NYT reports on the FAA investigating how titanium used in Boeing and Airbus airliners came from a questionable Chinese source with fraudulent documents. One wonders how many more body blows Boeing can suffer before the company gets radically realigned.

Speaking of the NYT, the Economist did an investigation on if the NYT bestseller list is politically biased. To almost no one’s surprise, it is. (Paywall warning.)

AP reports that Armenia is getting tired of Russia’s shit and is withdrawing from their “security alliance”. Considering the recent series of conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan, I’m concerned this is the first step before a major flare-up.

The Firearms Blog reports a San Antonio officer was put on indefinite suspension after he took home guns from a recent buyback.

A story going around the local stations reporting that half of parents who visit Disney end up in debt from the trip. Okay, yeah, Disney’s been jacking up prices for years. However, I look at this as more of an indictment of young families budgeting ability.

Let’s go on to some lighter items.

War is Boring looks at deploying military tech, including drones and helicopters, to deal with – feral hogs. I’ll be honest, going on a hog hunt is one of those things I’d like to do.

Finally, The Verge has a look at the Excel World Championship in Vegas.

Monday Links

June 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Let’s start off with our normal slew of Reason links.

Obligatory article on Trump conviction. Do I think that anyone else but Trump would have been brought to trial on this flimsy of a legal theory? No. Do I think this demonstrates the abuse a prosecutor can do with his powers? Yes. Do I think this could have all been avoided if Trump just kept it in his pants and not cheated on his wife? Also yes.

Obligatory article on the unanimous Supreme Court decision in favor of the NRA. Again, give the government enough power, and officials will abuse it.

Oh look, Fauci was caught trying to evade FOIA. This happens way too often. And it only makes the news when it’s someone prominent.

Gorsuch rails against Florida’s use of six-person juries. This one I don’t understand. What does it matter if it’s six or twelve? But I’m willing to be convinced. Maybe a tiered system. Civil and misdemeanors use six, minor felonies use eight, and major felonies have twelve.

Jumping minimum wage up to $20/hr has bad effects. Shocked Pikachu face.

A couple of Ground News aggregations.

That deputy who shot an airman who answered the door with a gun? Yeah, he’s fired. Now to see if he’s prosecuted.

China convicted 14 pro-democracy Hong Kong protestors.

Now on to other news stories.

You think you know how SEO works for the Google algorithm? Probably not, according to some leaked documents.

An article on Exo-Squad. That was such a great cartoon.

Here’s an interview with one of the creators of Magic: The Gathering.

NRA Finally Starting to Heal?

May 29, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Last week was the NRA Annual Meeting. The big news wasn’t the guns introduced – which I didn’t hear much about. It was how the leadership elections played out.

The best sources are John Richardson’s No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money blog and Stephen Gutowski’s The Reload. Both have the blow by blow of the elections and the fight over moving the headquarters from Virginia to Texas. (That one got spicy fast).

The TLDR. Although the establishment managed to elect Bob Barr as NRA President, the First and Second VP slots, as well as the EVP/CEO slot went to reformers. Moreover, the new EVP/CEO, Doug Hamlin has started shaking up things and reminding the NRA staff that they are there for the members. That they need to regain the members’ trust.

Those are very good first steps. The revelations of the previous regime’s shenanigans resulted in plunging membership (and revenues) as well as soaring legal bills. Extremely bad for an organization to continue being a going concern.

I am cautiously optimistic. I’m going to watch to see what Mr. Hamlin does over the next six months. If he continues to make these kinds of reforms, I’ll rejoin the NRA.

Monday Links

May 27, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day weekend. There will be a bit of tab clearing since we didn’t have a links post last week.

I’ve got a slew of Reason articles to start.

A look into how bad science is keeping bad regulations around nuclear power. We need more nuclear power. Because we need more power. Because we need to reduce our dependence on oil. Not just climate change, but because of the politics and other environmental hazards of oil.

A look at how zoning regulations empower the people we don’t want to have power.

Surprise, surprise, the real reason for self-checkout bans is not the stated reason of stopping theft. Incentives matter, and that doesn’t change once the issue becomes political.

No, Super Size Me was not a documentary. It was a bullshit publicity stunt that did nothing to address what it purported to address. Other than getting Mickey D’s to change it’s branding.

NYT says that looser gun laws caused the spike in homicides. Um, yeah. Keep thinking that.

This one about a New York man being convicted of building guns made the rounds of the gunblogs, but here’s Reason’s coverage. The judge telling the defense the Second Amendment doesn’t work here was surprisingly unsurprising.

Now on to other sources.

From Ground News, we have an aggregation of Uvalde parents suing Meta, Microsoft, and Daniel Defense because the bad guy was on Facebook, played Call of Duty, and used a DD rifle. I’m kinda glad the plaintiffs are pulling in Meta and Microsoft, as they can slap down those better than Daniel Defense.

From 404 Media – all those nifty northern lights that folks were able to see earlier this month? Yeah, that same coronal storm caused issues with tractors talking with GPS, which has resulted in issues with planting. Which will definitely have some downstream effects in the food supply chain.

Nature published an op-ed decrying climate scientists being climate activists. This has been one of the big problems with doing anything about climate change. The moment you step out of being a neutral dispenser of information to a partisan, whatever information you provide is degraded. Either because a swath of the population will no longer believe you, or your information becomes shaded. Because incentives matter.

Ars Technica has an article on a company that had its Google Cloud account completely wiped out. Including the backups. Fortunately, the company had backups other than Google, but it’s an interesting case study.

Via The Brother, here’s the transcript from a talk Bert Hubert delivered on Cyber Security and war.

From the local TV station, we have an article about a homeowner who killed an intruder, by stabbing him, after the intruder shot her in the face. In a fight for your life, don’t stop until you can’t fight anymore. Or the threat is stopped.