Shall Not Be Questioned » Boneheads

Are These People Stupid?

Sebastian — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:30:16 +0000

You really have to wonder with some people. While the man who went on a rampage, killing some of his friends, then fled, and killed a park ranger, decided to save the taxpayers the cost of a trial, you still have people making dim witted statements as if the National Park rule allowing guns has anything to do with this:

Sunday’s fatal shooting of a Park Service ranger Margaret Anderson could have been prevented, said Bill Wade, a former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, just outside Washington, D.C., who started his career as a professional ranger at Mount Rainier.

“The many congressmen and senators that voted for the legislation that allowed loaded weapons to be brought into the parks ought to be feeling pretty bad right now,” said Wade, whose term as chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees ended Dec. 31.

Didn’t this guy end up shooting the ranger in question when he tried to run a road block? Is Bill Wade so thick in the head that he actually thinks this guys as going to notice a “No guns allowed in the park” sign and turn around, or turn his gun over to the cops rather than shooting them?

This has nothing to do with the law that allows people to carry guns in a National Park, subject to state laws. This incident would have happened just as readily had the previous rule been in place. I don’ think this is a debatable point, and anyone who tries is either being deliberately deceitful, or is a cosmic fool. I will leave it to the reader to decide which is the case in regards to Bill Wade. Neither of the possibilities are commendable.

Things You Don’t Want on Your OSHA Incident Report

Sebastian — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:03:25 +0000

Apparently there was a death in the workplace at New Berlinville, PA environmental services company back in 2008. Normally this would not be news, except for the “Accident Investigation Summary:”

At approximately 12:35 p.m. on January 3, 2008, Employee #1 picked up a functional test box assembly and hooked the two alligator clips of this tester to his nipple rings. He turned on the power switch, which caused up to 2 amps of current at 110 volt AC to flow through the alligator clips. Employee #1 fell to the ground. The supervisor and coworkers rendered CPR, and outside emergency medical services utilized an AED. However, Employee #1 died a short time later at the hospital.

His occupation is listed as “Painting and paint spraying machine operators,” which makes you wonder if he was sniffing too much of the fumes when he was overcome by a desire to spike 110VAC across the really important part of his cardiovascular system. I think what’s interesting is that it looks like OSHA fined the employer. Is there really any workplace safety regulation that can prevent stupid?

The Geriatric Militia Conspiracy

Sebastian — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:15:19 +0000

The media is going to have a field day with this, if only because it’ll be useful for drawing attention away from Fast and Furious and discrediting one of its sources. The Affidavit submitted for the search warrant can be found here. Their geriatric plot seemed to revolve mostly around the use of ricin, claymore mines, and silenced weapons. Our group of grandpas here seems to want to use shaped charges too, because presumably they’ve read about it somewhere, though perhaps they can’t quite remember much about it. The affidavit outlines a story of hilarious incompetence, which made it very easy for the FBI to build a case against them. Just from the affidavit, it already looks like a pretty solid case.

On May 24, 2011, THOMAS and CHS1 drove to Atlanta in THOMAS’s 2006 Red GMC Canyon Pickup Truck, license plate Georgia BMB 0821. CHS1 consensually recorded the trip. THOMAS and CHS1 planned and conducted surveillance on the ATF (2600 Century Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia 30345) and the IRS (401 West Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30308) buildings to plan and assess for possible attacks.

There’s an awful lot of consensual recording going on here. But I guess you have to have something to share with the grandkids at Christmas. Or perhaps at their age, it helps to remember what the conspiracy was about, and who it was against. Either way, this is generally enough to nail someone on conspiracy. You can actually sit around and talk about the geriatric rebellion all you want, but as soon as you take some action to further your conspiracy, you’re committing a crime. If you have two confidential informants following you around with recording equipment, it’s typically not going to be hard to gather enough evidence to send you to prison for the rest of your short lives. What’s surprising is how much of their action reads not like the action of grown men, who should at their age have some aged wisdom, but rather reads like 13 year old Quasimodos plotting to attack their local Jr. High to get back at the cool kids. I will share with you some of this quite humorous, though demented and incompetent, plot:

“We’d have to blow the whole building like Timothy McVeigh. If we we’re gonna blow the buildings I would be smart to hit ‘em both at the same time. Plant the explosive right up against the wall, a shaped charge. We can do it. Okay let’s do it then. We can so do our own homework on making from scratch mortars what the hell’s that, claymores and grenades. We’ve gotta have a lot of explosives.”

Pretty sure McVeigh just used truck filled with a few barrels of diesel fuel and fertilizer, along with some blasting agents. I guess they didn’t do their homework. Either way, grandpa’s walker could probably be converted into a wicked fragmentation grenade.

“Yea, uh, claymore mines, we can make these things, but I’d rather have store bought, a real one.”

Yeah… the mines Home Depot sells are a hell of a lot more reliable than the grow-it-yourself types. You could always pick one up at Lowes, which is better laid out, and keeps the anti-personnel weapons in a more logical aisle, but Home Depot has a better selection.

“We need to place within an ATF or DEA big black van. When they fill up their people, we’re gonna take ‘em all out at once.”

If they get into a white van, the plan is off!

THOMAS expressed interest in obtaining weapons and equipment for the “covert group” from the UCE. THOMAS stated that he and the other members of the group have begun physical training and fitness to prepare for the physical demands that their plans may require.

My recommendation is this, for physical training.

“Helluva’n effect for so small a package! Interested? You bet!!! Show this to Cobra (ROBERTS) and then we’ll work out what we might be able to swap for some. Thanks!”

It’s not a conspiracy if you all don’t have cool code names. For the record, he’s talking about explosive packages here, though possibly he’s heard that line from his wife before.

On August 1, 2011, CHS1 consensually recorded a meeting with THOMAS, ROBERTS and another individual in northeast Georgia. They talked about acquiring TNT and building their own explosive devices. They discussed various types of detonators, but seemed to focus primarily on using pre-paid cell phones

The pre-paid models are the only ones that come with the detonators built in.

The affidavit notes some problems with the informants (one is under indictment), but given they have audio recordings, it looks like a pretty open and shut case of probable cause to get a valid warrant. No matter how ridiculous these guys might be, if you make a list of federal sonsabitches you want to take out, and then take action to further your plot, even if the FBI is there every step of the way providing you with everything you need to incriminate yourselves, you’re going to end up in prison. After reading the affidavit, I have no problem with what the FBI did here, and I’m going to guess after execution of the warrant, they are looking at a pretty solid case. We should probably be thankful these guys were laughably incompetent.

Righthaven Finished

Sebastian — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:20:47 +0000

Clayton reports that they are getting assets seized for failing to pay a judgement, and notes that tomorrow (today) will be a day for dancing. It’s good to see their uppance has finally come, but I doubt this will be the last we hear about Righthaven. There’s still the matter of the money that was extorted from people, and I don’t see any reasons why Stephens Media shouldn’t be on the hook for it, since they were partners in this scam.

Have Any of the Occupiers Even Read Orwell?

Sebastian — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:07:27 +0000

Or did they just take Oceana is a blueprint for a just society? Because I can’t imagine anyone who’s a student of Orwell could possibly produce something like this and not be completely freaked out:

For more background, see this article. What are they teaching in schools today? Another irony, which I’m sure is completely lost on the Occupy Charlotte folks trying to drive out their founder, is that they would overlay the music of a Polish Nationalist, who had to flee his native country that was brutally attacked by the Russian Bear. If you’re looking for music to go with a purge, I have a better suggestion than the use of Chopin.

“It began, as it so often does, with a drum circle.”

Sebastian — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:53:46 +0000

This is too rich:

All occupiers are equal — but some occupiers are more equal than others. In wind-whipped Zuccotti Park, new divisions and hierarchies are threatening to upend Occupy Wall Street and its leaderless collective.

As the protest has grown, some of the occupiers have spontaneously taken charge on projects large and small. But many of the people in Zuccotti Park aren’t taking direction well, leading to a tense Thursday of political disagreements, the occasional shouting match, and at least one fistfight.

Read the whole thing. You’d think the big downside to a bunch of dirty hippies camping out in your neighborhood would be the smell. But no, apparently it’s the drumming. That damned incessant drumming. Hippie drum circles, and hippies themselves really, are a modern phenomena. I’m sure they’ve always existed in some form or another, but I have to wonder if their current culture can survive because we’re too polite a society. How long do you think the New Yorkers from this New York would have tolerated this before the drummers and there drums were enthusiastically re-loacted?

The Tea Party movement actually went through similar tribulations, as groups formed, and people tried to anoint themselves into leadership positions in the movement. That’s still going on, and it’s human nature. But I would point out that the Tea Party movement managed to do this while most of them were holding down jobs, and not ruining a park.

The Nanny Corporation

Sebastian — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:17:04 +0000

Megan McArdle details some of the lengths employers are going through to control health care costs:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’m pretty skeptical. Let’s start by asking what the selection bias was. Cleveland fired two high-profile doctors who wouldn’t quit smoking. One imagines that employees who do not want their employer nannying them about their gym time and alcohol consumption probably decline to work at the Clinic.

As someone who is currently unemployed heading on 4 months now, I would starve and lose my house before I took a job with an employer who took such a vibrant interest in my personal life. Certainly if this was the cost of employer provided health care, I would go elsewhere. Maybe that’s the point.

For the Love of Darwin!

Sebastian — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:52:55 +0000

I’m speechless. All I can think of is that the gene pool here could use a little chlorine.

Adulthood Sucks Doesn’t It?

Sebastian — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:17:27 +0000

You’d think this entitled and ridiculous lot was the first generation of Americans to get out into the real world and find out the going isn’t as easy as it was with mom and pop taking care of you. Just looking at her expenses:

She went into way too much debt in college if that’s what she’s paying in student loans. I can sympathize, since I did the same thing. But I spent the first few years out of college living with my dad and paying down the loans until I got them to a reasonable level to refinance them.
550 is about what I pay in utilities for a house with two people living it… if I count as a “utility” an iPhone plan and high speed internet. Actually, I don’t think I hit 550 with even that. She must have a nice cable package too.
She pretty clearly has a new car if she’s paying 505 a month. My insurance is about 100 a month. I don’t have a car payment because I paid it off several years ago. Maybe she doesn’t really need a new car? I’ve bought cars for 3000 in cash that have run for years afterwards.
Her commute is 65 miles? Jesus! I draw my boundary at 50, and my earning potential is about twice hers. Maybe move closer to your job? Not like you have to sell a house and cover a mortgage or anything.

Just not feeling the sympathy. Who I do feel sympathy for in this generation are the kids who graduated from college and can’t find jobs, because the economy isn’t producing any for them. It’s been several graduating classes now that have hit the job market during this financial crisis, and unemployment among young people is sky high.

But even there, they voted for Obama in large numbers, and his health care fiasco is a big reason companies are reluctant to hire right now, because all anyone knows about it is that it’s definitely going to be expensive, and probably a lot more expensive than anyone really thinks. How’s that hope and change working out for you now?

Righthaven on the Ropes

Sebastian — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:49:31 +0000

Couldn’t have happened to nicer people. Apparently they are now such a credit risk they can’t even get money to put up a bond to cover attorneys fees they owe to someone they sued. I hope Clayton manages to recover his improperly extorted settlement.