Category: Politics

Clearing Out the Tabs

January 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I had a bunch of links collected that I haven’t had a chance to put into Monday Links. Since this week’s Monday post was the 2023 wrap-up, I decided to just clear out all my tabs.

Per tradition, we clear out all of the Reason links.

First is an examination of Colorado removing Trump from the primary ballot. For the record, I think this was a bad move – mostly because there’s been no conviction of incitement or related charge. And that’s not even touching my issues with how we do primaries.

Let’s continue with populist leaders, and a rebuttal of Tucker Carlson’s attack on Dollar Stores.

Florida’s leaders are becoming more and more hostiles to immigrants.

Tens of thousands of students haven’t returned to public school since the shutdowns. And no one knows where they all went.

Magazine bans hurt those who want to defend themselves. This is a talking point that needs to be rebutted, as it seems like a reasonable issue to most non-gun folks.

The St. Louis attorney who used an old-school AR to fend off protestors in his gated community can’t get his guns returned. The dude’s an asshole, but he did nothing wrong – at least legally speaking. This is one of those fears that if the police get our guns for any reason – evidence, malicious red-flagging, etc – we will never get them back.

A case for letting foreign-flagged airlines service domestic air routes.

This is a personal issue. Who created the Cuban sandwich? How can anyone take Miami’s claim seriously. They don’t even use yellow rice for their arroz con pollo.

Now for some Ground News compilations.

There was a record drop in homicides for 2023. The article cites success of gun control. Um, no. This is regression to the mean after the insanity of 2020 and the aftershocks.

It looks like Steamboat Willy will enter public domain.

NASA demonstrates how to use a laser for extremely long distance streaming. By sending a cat video nineteen million miles.

Now on to the rest of the links in no particular order.

Gunsamerica has a checklist on what to look for in trainers to avoid bullshido. I’m pretty sure this is a h/t to Tam.

Bloomberg reports that the FTC has banned Rite Aid from using AI-powered facial recognition on customers. Apparently, there were a lot of folks falsely flagged as potential shoplifters.

Techcrunch has an article on music creation coming to Microsoft’s Co-Pilot.

The Intercept has a profile on FBI and NYPD entrapping someone they called a terrorist. This kind of shit is how you get degradation of trust.

War is Boring takes a look at how the crash of a V-22 Osprey could endanger the Army’s new tiltrotor.

Finally, The Firearms Blog discusses the passing of Gaston Glock.

Monday Links

December 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This one is going to be a bit tech heavy. Just how the stories came across my feeds.

First, of course, are a couple of Reason links.

With all the brouhaha over Florida punishing Disney by taking away their special district, this infographic is a good reminder that Disney wasn’t the only one receiving special treatment.

Over the Volokh Conspiracy, an article on the large gap on how the generations view the Israel-Hamas War.

In that same vein, we have an opinion piece from the Times of Israel called Dear World: I Don’t Care.

Here’s a couple of Ground News aggregations.

Homelessness rose to its highest levels. The housing shortage is certainly a factor, in addition to the normal causes.

There’s a growing schism in the United Methodist Church. I have some interest in this as I grew up in a UMC.

Let’s do some gun stuff.

Tam has an article on the state of red dots. At some point, I’ll have probably have to jump on the bandwagon and add one to my carry pieces.

If you have a Taurus GX4. there’s a recall notice.

Now on to tech news. I have a couple articles from a new source – 404 Media.

Polish white-hats are being sued for bypassing a train manufacturer’s attempt to force repairs to their authorized sources. I am fine with manufacturer’s saying that if you repair your stuff or take it to an independent place, that it will void the warranty. I do not support manufacturers actively stopping repairs.

A marketing company is saying it can use what your smart devices “hear” to do targeted advertising. I’m not sure if this is hype or actual, but the fact that someone is claiming they can, means that they will try to do so.

Wired has a look at Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit.

WaPo discusses recent widespread cyber intrusions linked to Chinese PLA hackers.

And finally from Ars Technica, an article about how some cats like to play fetch. The Brother sent this last one over for consideration.

Monday Links

December 11, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Reason links time!

Who came to Florida during COVID? Here’s an infographic.

Ohio town is charging $100 to challenge traffic tickets.

Ground News has a collection of articles on how scientists used CRISPR to develop a promising new therapy for sickle-cell anemia.

Now switching to some gun news.

The Reload has an article on the newest gun control bill introduced in Congress. Okay, it’s poorly written and would ban just about every gun sold right now, but it’s an interesting change of tactics by our opponents.

TFB is reporting that there might be a shortage of gunpowder in the next year. May be time to stock up.

Firearms News is reporting that the Broomhandle Mauser turned into Han Solo’s blaster sold for a cool mill, and made it into Guinness.

Hasbro has discontinued their Selfie Series. I’m glad I got mine, but I was hoping to get another.

Monday Links

December 4, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Starting with Reason – of course.

Flagstaff decides to take its ball and go home instead of running gun ads in public transit.

An analysis of Backpage’s hopeless battle against the DOJ.

Irish government about to crack down on memes.

Biden displays normal disdain of economics while threatening companies for “price gouging.”

A case before the Supreme Court will decide if people have to go through administrative judges.

State laws requiring permission to obtain guns look shaky under post-NYSRPA.

Detroit’s civil asset forfeiture program is gone.

I have a couple from Ground News.

US agrees to shutter remaining coal plants.

Nannites from human tissue used to repair damage in human bodies.

Other stuff time!

From Bloomberg, the story of a new anti-drone drone.

An item of local interest – Dakin Dairy is up for sale.

From the Verge, Ikea is introducing more inexpensive smart home devices.

From CBR, the anime streaming service HIDIVE is stopping service in most of countries. Considering how the app is becoming less and less useful, I’m not surprised.

From TFB, CZ is releasing a DMR version of the Bren 2.

Monday Links – Super Sized!

November 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Just as a heads up, I have a bit of a backlog that I’m clearing out today. So, buckle up buttercup.

Of course we’re starting with a mess of Reason links.

Do right-wingers believe conspiracy theories more than left-wingers? Short answer, no. Long answer, it’s complicated.

Some are estimating the US has about 20 years to get it’s financial house in order before a debt default becomes inevitable.

The FTC’s case against Amazon is based on a faulty interpretation of one statistic. You mean Kahn’s disregarding logic in her crusade against Amazon?

Re-examination of the teen vaping panic.

Retrospective of the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act at 50.

NLRB looks to change rules aimed at how franchises work – particularly fast food franchises.

Supreme Court issues a code of ethics for the justices. One item of note is that they address recusal and the duty for the justices to stay on cases to avoid strategic recusals.

The Fifth Circuit slaps down the ATF’s recent receiver rule.

On to other stuff.

The Reload has an article on the Supreme Court granting cert on the bump stock ban. I see this less of a gun case and more of a restricting administrative agencies from making people felons with a rule change.

From Ground News, we have Sam Altman departing OpenAI. Not clear if he left on his own accord or was forced out.

From 9to5Mac, Apple surprised everyone by announcing they were integrating RCS alongside iMessage.

From NYT comes an article on a company pulling carbon and trapping it in concrete. I always thought engineering would help the planet better than trying to just cut emissions.

War Is Boring reports the Ukranian Army is trying to transition to a more professional and gender-equitable force. Um, okay. I guess improving its professionalism in the middle of a war is a good thing.

Angry Staff Officer has an article discussing the positive leadership traits of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Honestly, this kind of article was why I started reading ASO.

From The Allspark, Peter Cullen to receive lifetime achievement award.

Our last link is from Ars Technica. The old television series “Connections” is being revived! And James Burke is returning as host!

Monday Links

November 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Let’s start out with our normal Reason round up.

A bunch of federal offices sit empty while the taxpayers are still paying for them. One of the dirty little secrets is that no one wants to give up their little space empire – even if they’re not using it and others are paying through the nose other space. I would be all in favor of some kind of BRAC-type examination of all federal buildings/leases/land to see what could be sold off or condensed.

Speaking of government-owned stuff, here’s an article about a grocery store being run by Erie, Kansas with predictable results. What’s wrong with Kansas?

Here’s a think-piece on allowing in Gaza refugees. My sympathies lie with allowing refugees in. However, considering the current state of the immigration issue, I can’t see how they wouldn’t be turned into playthings of the demagogue politicians.

Moving on to other news articles.

A Bloomberg article on how Huwai managed to develop an advanced chip by reworking machines not part of the current tech embargo.

IntelNews has an article on how Ukraine is using assassinations as a part of their war with Russia.

From GroundNews, Orlando buys the Pulse site to build a memorial. I understand the need for a memorial. I just have a feeling that it will be used to push the narrative that the asshole was targeting gays instead of just wanting to kill people.

Also from GroundNews, the administration halts export of civilian firearms for 90 days. Because reasons.

I have a couple of articles on the administration’s executive orders on AI. One from Wired and one from aisnakeoil. Considering the stance of the administration, I can hear the words “regulatory capture” just behind their talking points.

Tampa International Airport is testing out air-taxis. I find them kind of interesting as their essentially EV helos.

Speaking of EV’s, The Drive reports that Ford is having to recall Mustang Mach-E’s because the batteries don’t respond well to the owners flooring it. What the hell did Ford think people would do with an EV sporting a Mustang badge? I keep saying that the Mach-E would have been a great EV, but it’s a sucky Mustang.

The Firearms Blog has an article about a new PCC with swapable magwells for different magazines. Well, color me interested.

For our light item:

Monday Links

October 23, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Let’s start with Reason links.

Confirming some of my priors, a new study finds helicopter parenting is detrimental to kids’ mental health.

An interesting piece on how Congress has not learned the lessons of high interest rates. They also haven’t learned that pumping money into an economy causes inflation, so why should anyone be surprised?

Going on to other news sites.

Related to the last Reason item, the deficit hit $1.7 trillion driven by – surprise! – higher costs for entitlements (Social Security and Medicare/caid).

A new threat to LLM’s from an old technique – prompt injections. As these LLM’s become more prevalent, we’re going to find all sorts of unexpected benefits and threats.

Via Erin Palette, comes this blog post about why Jews may be looking at others with some suspicion. I’ll admit, it hit me wrong. I dislike the whole “I can only trust people in my identity group” attitude. I understand how it arises, and that we’ll see more of this as America transitions to a low-trust society. I will still extend my hand – if you feel threatened and want to learn the basics of gun handling feel free to contact me.

Some gun news from TFB.

CSG – owner of CZ, maker of my beloved Bren – is now the proud owner of Vista Outdoors’ collection of ammunition brands. Including Speer, which makes the ammo I tend to use for my defensive purposes.

If I’d known Smith and Wesson was going to come out with this PCC, I might have not purchased my FSC. I prefer the “AR” rifle configuration over the FSC’s more “Uzi”-style configuration.

Steyr announced a new version of their Scout rifle. The original Scout debuted right when I was getting into guns, and it’s always had a place in my heart. Something about that integrated bipod and the mag holder in the butt. The new one looks like a worthy successor.

Time for light items.

Disney is developing a live-action version of Gargoyles. Well, that could be either very good or very bad. I should really introduce The Wife to the series.

And because I’ve had this song pinging around my head for some indiscernible reason.:

Monday Links

October 16, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I normally start out with Reason links, but I always believe that when faced with a horrific event, it’s important to look for the heroes. After Hamas’s murderous rampage in Israel, I have a couple of links to heroes.

A paramedic (who happened to be Arab) who gave his life tending to the injured at a music festival.

An Israeli couple who protected their twin infants. The couple died, but the infants were rescued.

I don’t have a link for this one, but heard on the ACP podcast about an Uber driver who dropped people off at that big music festival, saw the attack, raced back in, crammed nine people into his car, raced them to an IDF base, found the base under Hamas control, escaped to another IDF base, and then waited with his passengers for a couple of hours before soldiers showed up to help. Unfortunately, he was hit during all of this badassery and lost his life. If anyone has a link to this story, please let me know so I can add it here.

Now it’s time for a couple of Reason articles.

This may be considered by some to be in bad taste after the protests seen in the US, Australia, and others in support of the Palestinian cause, but it’s an important point. We can’t hold protest organizers liable for violence done by people not under their direct control/authority. Fight back the protests with counter protests. Resist violence with proportional force.

No, Matthew Sheppard wasn’t killed because he was gay. Were the murderers homophobes? Yeah. But the more I read this case, it more reads like if Aryan Nation did a meth deal with a black dealer, and then killed the dealer in a horrific way after the deal went bad. It was more about the deal than the hate.

On to other stories.

Ammoland has an article about four questions you should ask during your next gun control debate. A lot of good points about effective discussion and debate as well.

From The Record comes an article about the largest DDOS attack ever recorded.

Ground News (which is a service I use to get a bunch of news stories) has a collection of them on 17 Broward County deputies arrested for stealing $500K worth of COVID funds. Shocked face emoji that it came from Broward.

Our last story is from Variety about Michael Caine retiring at the age of 90. Thank you for decades of wonderful performances.

Monday Links

October 9, 2023 / / 0 Comments

You, know, I had just a few light items for this week. And then shit had to break loose.

Here’s coverage from Reuters about the ouster of McCarthy from the speakership and what will/may happen next. For the record, everyone was kind of half-predicting something like this when the compromise to put McCarthy in the speakership was forged back in January. And Gaetz is a fucking media-whore who acts like a nihilist.

Hamas decided that it was smart to poke the Israeli hornet hive. Israel is replying with full force. Expect “Republicans Pounce” style headlines in 3, 2, 1…

It didn’t help that tensions between Turkey and the US are rising due to the US downing a Turkish drone. In response, Turkey’s stepping up attacks on the Kurds.

For our obligatory Reason article, the federal government is spending billions on new furniture for offices that are mostly empty. I don’t advertise that the day job is with the .gov, but I will state that I’ve told many senior people in my organization that COVID was an excellent chance to reorient how we use space.

I’ve also dug up an AP article that the FBI may have secretly recovered a bunch of gold from the Civil War back in 2018.

Let’s do some lighter items.

After decades on the air, the BBC is pulling the plug on Top Gear. Grand Tour Nation has a pretty good retrospective on the show. There were many years where The Brother, Shootin’ Buddy, and me would watch that show together. I learned a lot about high performance (and not so high performance) cars from that show. I still do not understand the cults around Alfa Romeos and Maserati.

From Anime News Network comes an article about a pilotable Patlabor possibly debuting next summer.

Monday Links

October 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Okay, we’re going to do the usual and start with Reason links.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Diane Feinstein passed away last week. While I will extend my condolences to her friends and family, I won’t pretend to be horribly upset. And Reason encapsulates why.

Khan’s FTC is going after Amazon. I had a piece in here earlier this year that the FTC chairman/person/annoyance really doesn’t understand how online retail works – and it seems anything she doesn’t understand is bad.

And the FCC is going to reimpose net neutrality because reasons. Because it isn’t like they’ve had anything but hypotheticals to explain why it’s needed. Hey FCC, you want to fix things? Start fixing these stupid franchises localities make with internet companies to limit competition.

On to other things…

The New Yorker has an interesting think piece on someone learning about guns to write on guns.

The Brits had to temporarily mobilize part of their Army when a bunch of their weapons-qualified police officers refused to pick up weapons. Why? One of their own is facing charges after a shooting. The officers have since returned to their duties. I don’t know enough about the case to decide if the shooting was justified or not. But it was an interesting turn of events.

Light item alert!

Someone’s making amphibious campers that resemble Star Trek TOS shuttles.