Sebastian – Page 639 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Body Scanners

The current technology, we know, displays a nude image of your person to a TSA agent. Engineers are working on a version of this technology that just provides an outline of the person, and an image of any objects that the scanner picks up. This presents an interesting question as to whether this fixes the civil liberties issue with this technology. The general court consensus on airport searches is that they are reasonable. Good argument to be made that electronic strip searches are unreasonable. But what happens if technology makes it such that it’s no longer a strip search?

I’m conflicted, because I would like to see TSA abolished and for us to return to the pre-911 security arrangement. But if technology can be used to make the security less obnoxious, without unduly prying into people lives or peeking through their clothing, I’d rather have a machine analyze my body image than be groped by a security agent.

How They Think of You

More on TSA. I wonder what TSA agents would do if you handed out flyers in front of a security checkpoint informing the flying public on exactly what the body scanning machines do? I’ll bet there’s some federal law they’d try to nail you with. It’s sad, but I believe the majority of the flying public has no idea what the body scanner machines actually do.

Quote of the Day

On privacy:

Despite the “privacy” recitations of that formed the basis ofÂ Roe v. Wade, genuine privacy in this country isÂ disappearing so quickly that itmakes myÂ head spin.

Privacy is only approved for correct activities. If you activity is disfavored by the party, you have no privacy. Want to own a gun? No right to privacy there. And as Eric points out, you have no privacy right to decide what and what not to put into your own body too.

National Opt Out Day

Given that Bitter is flying back home today, from visiting her niece, nephew, brother and sister in law in Nashville, I have to mention that this is an effort I highly approve of. November 24th is one of the most heavily traveled days of the year. We have to do our best to avoid flying as much as we can, and when we have to fly, to stand up for our rights. The airlines should be natural allies in the struggle against TSA, but as of yet they are not.

I would point out that the Democrats, that we just kicked out of power, demanded the creation of TSA in exchange for the Republicans getting us the <sarcasm>wonderfully necessary and efficient Department of Homeland Security</sarcasm>.Â I’ll start having a lot more faith in the Tea Party movement if they start to take up the mantle of dismantling the federal security theater apparatus we implemented during the Bush years in response to 9/11. I really do believe this is one of the great civil liberties issues of our time.

Now that we have pushed the Democrats off the throat of our Republic, it’s time to remind the Republicans that we still don’t really appreciate them getting us drunk and taking advantage of us in our susceptible state in those dark moments after the towers fell.Â I’m not going to demand the Republicans stand up for gay marriage or abortion rights, but they damned well ought to stand up for our right not to have pseudo-naked pictures of our wives, husbands and children paraded before TSA bureaucrats, under threat of groping. I think that’s a pretty basic principle we all ought to agree on. Who would really be against that as a family value?

ATF Ruling on Airsoft Replicas

John Richardson points to a copy of an ATF ruling on Airsoft replicas, which has since disappeared. The end result may be kind of absurd, but the fact is, if you can pop out the Airsoft bits, pop in an AR-15 or M16 trigger group, throw on a real AR-15 upper and bolt assembly, and get the thing to go bang, the Airsoft receiver is by law a firearm, and if it goes full auto, then the receiver is also a machinegun. The law regulates firearms or receivers of firearms. An AR-15 lower does not undergo all that much mechanical stress. Most of that is in the upper receiver. It would be perfectly safe to fire an AR-15 with a pot metal lower receiver. Might not stand up to abuse, but you’ll be able to use it.

So I don’t think this is really something ATF deserved to be mocked over. It sounds as if some of these Airsoft replicas are indeed close enough to AR-15/M16 receivers to function as such. The law might be absurd, but that’s Congress’ fault, not ATFs.

It is Easy, Comparatively

Looks like other people have noticed influencing a political landscape isn’t that hard:

Funny, after I taped my PJTV interview yesterday with David Kirkham â€” whose Utah Tea Party toppled Bob Bennett and brought a new Speaker into the Utah State House to boot â€” and Mike Wilson, whose Cincinnati Tea Party helped paint Ohio red last week, they stayed on the hookup and were talking about how the biggest surprise to both of them, each a political neophyte, was how comparativelyÂ easy politics was compared to running a business.

It’s absolutely easier than running a business. It’s easier than managing even a small group at a company. Running for office takes people skills, and a certain moral flexibility, but the game is pretty straight forward. If you have the right kind of defective personality, you can go far.

Veterans Day

I was privileged to see a this video previewed at an NRA board meeting, which is now being promoted to honor the work of veterans on behalf of other veterans on Veterans Day. Watch it, it’s pretty moving.

Surprise

Federal bureaucracies enjoy trumping up issues that tend to get them more funding from Congress. The Mexican Gun Canard has been a fantastic issue in this regard for ATF and the DOJ. It’s also been a bonanza, and will continue to be, from our opponents. When bureaucratic interests line up in our opponents favor, that’s never a good thing for gun rights.

Hohenwarter Q&A

Because we’ve had a voting session scheduled for Monday, where Castle Doctrine could possibly come up, I’ve informed NRA that we can wait until after Monday for the Q&A. John is going to have to be in Harrisburg, and I do not wish to distract him from the task at hand. Plus, it’ll add more to the story about the Castle Doctrine efforts. After Monday’s voting session is over, I will get questions in and get then answered as best I can.

In the mean time, probably better to contact your House rep, along with Rep. Eachus and Speaker McCall, and tell them you want them to vote on Castle Doctrine.

Teaching Slavery

Apparently now being the subject of lawsuits. I agree with Clayton that slavery is a lot for a fifth grader to wrap their heads around in its entirety, but it would seem to me a discussion with the teacher, principle, and school board (in that order) might be a more productive path forward rather than a lawsuit.