Sebastian – Page 320 – Shall Not Be Questioned

We’re the Hateful Ones?

You know, today I don’t have much room for hating on other people. I don’t think you can be human and stomach the thought of someone evil or deranged enough to look a kindergartner in the eye and pull the trigger, or sink a knife into them. I don’t think you can hear stories of kids stuck in a bathroom saying to a teacher they “don’t want to die, they just want Christmas,” and not be moved.

Yet apparently at least one person posting from a public library in Seattle has room for plenty of hate in my comments, and to wish us “HOLIDAYS in HELL!” This is exactly the kind of thing I was speaking of in my previous post.

I Guess We Don’t Have a Monopoly on Sickos

Mass stabbing of school children in China. Apparently there’s been a rash of them in that country. But it seems this guy had no apparent motive:

No motive was given for the stabbings, which echo a string of similar assaults against schoolchildren in 2010 that killed nearly 20 and wounded more than 50. The most recent such attack took place in August, when a knife-wielding man broke into a middle school in the southern city of Nanchang and stabbed two students before fleeing.

Seems that in China, most of these are perpetrated by people who have mental health disorders, which is also the case here. It would be interesting to know if China is also deinstitutionalizing its mentally ill, as we have been doing here for some time.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice?

Yes, wouldn’t it be nice, if as gun owners, we could just experience grief and sorrow along with the rest of the country. Instead we have that impending feeling of doom over what the media, the politicians, and the people in society who don’t much care for civilian gun ownership, are going to do to our lives, liberty and often times livelihood. What if we could go through something like this, without worrying about how much we’re going to be the scapegoats?

I know that’s the thought that’s been crossing my mind as this entire horror story is playing out in the media. I don’t want to think about, or deal with politics right now. But that’s precisely what I have to start getting ready for if I don’t want to risk that possibility that America, and the politicians who claim to represent her, in their rashest and most impulsive worst instincts, pass a knee jerk law that will overnight turn many Americans into instant felons. There are times I believe we all deserve a break from politics. This is one of them, but we will never get it.

I believe we will not leave this horror unscathed, either mentally or politically. Our liberties and beliefs will be called into question, ridiculed, beaten, and we’ll be told to get in line for the good of everyone. This could very well be the point as which the pendulum swings back. The narrative that’s been driven home is that NRA is beaten up and bloodied, and is no longer relevant. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, what matters is what the powers that be believe. We may not believe the time now is for politics, and it shouldn’t be. But as a variation on an old saying goes: we may not be interested much in politics, but politics is very interested in us.

Hickenlooper Says “Time is Right” for Gun Control

The problem is, once they start smelling blood in the water, the sharks come out. For people who live in Colorado what are you going to do about it? Because sitting back and believing someone else will step up is going to result in this coming to pass:

Hickenlooper said the issues that merit discussion include “things like, do we all need assault weapons?” which he said are “designed for warfare” and “designed to pierce bulletproof vests and body armor.”

You’re going to get an assault weapons ban if people don’t step up.

Gun Control History Bleg

Dave Hardy is looking into the history of New York State’s gun laws, and could use some help. This kind of meticulous academic work is the foundation of our victories in the Supreme Court and now the 7th Circuit, so it’s important.Â If you know anything about this, let him know, or let me know and I can forward it along.

Mutual Exclusion

Kevin has a hilarious example. Constitution? I do not think it means what you think it means. The sad part is, I’m going to be willing to bet this person is actually considerably higher on the information rung than your typical low-information voter, but the ignorance of the Constitution burns with the heat of a pool full ofÂ Sriracha sauce.

Alan Gottlieb & Dan Gross on Piers Morgan

Video here. What’s funny is that he pretty much ignored Dan Gross so he could spend time attempting to savage Alan Gottlieb, which he was not very successful at. I thought Paul Helmke had some issues in terms of the overall strategy for the Brady organization, but I always thought he was a decent spokesman for the group. I feel like every time I hear Dan Gross talk it sound something like this:

“Hi Piers, the Brady Campaign has a simple message for Americans: we are better than this. Gun violence is a serious problem in this country, and the truth is we are better than this. In conclusion, Piers, my organization stands for all Americans who have a heartfelt, honest belief that, when it comes to gun violence we are just better than this.”

I mean, I know no one watches Piers Morgan, but even he thought Alan made for better talking head entertainment for the four Americans who tuned in to watch. I’m not impressed with Gross’s messaging. Surely the formerly leading gun control organization in the United States is better than this. At this point I almost feel like CSGV is more relevant, because at least there’s a market for the crazy juice they are peddling in the far left reaches of the cosmic mouth foam region of the Internets.

No Privacy

Thanks to Tam (who suggests we’re all probably not paranoid enough) for this and thisÂ stories on how Uncle Sam is crushing our privacy and protections from searches. Let me tell you, I’m so glad we don’t have that civil liberty stomping Bush in the White House anymore, and replaced him with a thorough progressive Democrat who will protect our civil liberties.

Often times when I talk about self-hosting, people wonder why I would do such a thing, given that hosting providers are cheap, and doing it myself is more complicated. This is a big part of the reason why. What happened to Wyatt is another big part of the reason why. I control the horizontal and the vertical (even if the signal is still vulnerable, it makes it harder for them, at least), and if someone wants access to the e-mail on our servers, they have to hand a subpoena to either Jason or me personally. Plus, given that we have redundancy on the signal, if someone decided to cut my line, I can be up and running somewhere else within hours, since my data is not at the mercy of some IT drone at an ISP.

Yesterday

Posting was light because we had our quarterly whole-company meeting, along with a Yankee Swap and holiday dinner at the Iron Hill. I discovered my coworkers are ruthless thieves of liquor gifts. I tried to score a bottle of single malt Islay Scotch, and that didn’t last long. Nontheless, I did manage to come home with some hooch and a large amount of sweets (which I shouldn’t eat). I thought my RC helicopter would be more popular, but it was opened too late in the process.

Chicago Really Helping NRA

The latest check. I’d be OK with sending Rahm a hat, and considering the magnitude of the donations, I think a letter from Chris Cox would be nice too. I’m sure that can be arranged for high donors like Rahm.