If you see Franz Ferdinand, tell him to duck!

American soil in Libya is invaded as our embassy is burned and our ambassador is dragged through the street, possibly raped, and murdered.

Our embassies in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Lebanon, India, Balgadesh, Indonesia, and Afghanistan are coming under different degrees of attack.

Japan and China are developing some serious bad blood.

Israel says Iran will have nukes in 6-8 months (while we sat on our hands) and that they will strike before this time (HOPEFULLY) leading us into a war to support our ally.

We're starting some international joint war games within spitting distance of Iran.

And if all that wasn't enough, Helicopter Ben will be dropping (read: PRINTING) $40,000,000,000 into the US economy to "stabilize it." But this printing of money will be different from the last two, because this one will print $40,000,000,000 EVERY 30 DAYS until things improve.

There has never been a better time to check your preps.

For further reading and links check Tam and Zero Hedge

War never changes

LA Times: North Korea says it will scrap naval accord with South

North Korea has been positioning itself, quite overtly, for war for a while now. This is just another stepping stone, but it's a big one.

War from Mr. Ronery has been a foregone conclusion. It was only a matter of when.

Now that America is at its weakest in many ways, they've got an opportunity that they haven't had in decades. It only makes sense that they take it.

I hope President Obama surprises us all by squashing lil' Kim like the bug he is. But I won't be holding my breath.

Cost of Ca business regulation: half trillion dollars PER YEAR

San Francisco Chronicle: Costs of California's business regulations: start with $1/2 trillion and keep counting

That's the amount of MONEY THE STATE IS NOT GETTING due to its business tax and regulation choices.

Genius.

Why don't you guys take a long, hard look at that budget shortfall and think about how nice it would be to have had an extra $1.5 TRILLION OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.

Instead you try to get declining revenues and job loss.

Way to go guys.

Supposedly the Governator has been sitting on this report for two years. Betcha THAT was eating away at his conscious.

When reached for comment, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said,

"Yew mean I could have kept mah campaign promises to Cal-lee-for-knee-uhh AND had money left over to feed to da democrats' pet projects?! Instead I have destroyed our economy, business climate, and millions of jobs, and all I have to show for it is political disgrace and the death of the possibility of a Republican run at the presidency?! AAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHH!!!!"

Lets try to remind ourselves of two things;

The Rahn Curve


The Laffer Curve

Sonic weapons made for Iraq appear at San Diego townhall

East County Magazine: SONIC WEAPONS USED IN IRAQ POSITIONED AT CONGRESSIONAL TOWNHALL MEETINGS IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY

Navy News describes the LRAD as "louder than a jet engine" and helpfully explains that it overwhelms its targets with "sound so loud they hear it inside their heads."

Mike Copass ... tried to interview the Sheriff’s officer who appeared to be in charge of the device, which was mounted on a Rhino all-terrain vehicle. But Magallanez said the official "acted as if he didn’t know what it was."

The militarization of the police takes another big step.

Ca. Offshore oil vote leaves bad taste in legislators' mouths -- record expunged!

The vote is below, I've made the anomalies bold.

Interesting note; this vote seems unsurprisingly along party lines, so why expunge it? There were only two who crossed party lines. Were they just afraid of the Republican voters that didn't want this, and the Democrat voters who did? Were they just honestly confused with what their constituents really wanted to do?

An odd move, worthy of some thought.

YES (28)
Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia
Joel Anderson, R-Alpine
Juan Arambula, independent-Fresno
Bill Berryhill, R-Modesto
Tom Berryhill, R-Ceres
Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo
Charles Calderon, D-Whittier
Connie Conway, R-Tulare
Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley
Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine
Mike Duvall, R-Yorba Linda
Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands
Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield
Ted Gaines, R-Roseville
Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad
Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford
Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills
Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore
Stephen Knight, R-Palmdale
Dan Logue, R-Linda
Jeff Miller, R-Corona
Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert
Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks
Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber
Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach (thank you, sir!)
Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita
Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa
Mike Villines, R-Clovis

NO (43)
Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco
Jim Beall, D-San Jose
Robert Blumenfield, D-Woodland Hills
Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica
Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo
Anna Marie Caballero, D-Salinas
Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto
Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata
Joe Coto, D-San Jose
Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate
Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles
Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park
Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa
Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles
Paul Fong, D-Sunnyvale
Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar
Warren Furutani, D-Gardena
Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston
Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley
Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo
Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills
Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael
Dave Jones, D-Sacramento
Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank
Ted Lieu, D-Torrance
Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach
Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco
Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia
William Monning, D-Santa Cruz
Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara
John Perez, D-Los Angeles
Manuel Perez, D-Coachella
Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena
Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City
Mary Salas, D-Chula Vista
Lori Saldana, D-San Diego
Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley
Audra Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks
Sandréwanson, D-Alameda
Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch
Norma Torres, D-Pomona
Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont
Mariko Yamana, D-Davis

NOT VOTING (8)
Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista
Marty Block, D-San Diego
Mike Davis, D-Los Angeles
Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego
Isadore Hall, D-Compton
Diane Harkey, R-Dana Point
Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina
Jose Solorio, D-Anaheim

You couldn't pay me enough to be on either side of that line

The Firearm Blog posted a video.

The video includes a photographer positioned downrange, targets at either shoulder, as a live fire exercise takes place at close range.

That is; there was a person-- a real, live human being-- sitting next to the targets as the targets were shot at with real bullets fired from real guns, fired by real, live human beings.

Steve comments;

I know I will *never* be skilled enough to guarantee I would not make a mistake.

Don't fall for this fallacy! "Skilled" is not the word. The word is "STUPID."

You do not-- rpt; NOT fire a gun with a live human downrange, unless you are ready to live the possibility of shooting that person!

This isn't about breaking one of the four rules of firearm safety for training purposes. You, dry firing at your teevee, or practicing shooting positions in the living room when someone walks in front of your barrel is VERY different than DISCHARGING LIVE ROUNDS WITH A MAN STANDING THREE FEET FROM YOUR TARGET!

Steve notes "the counter argument is that the elite military units train with live cross fire." The military is a whole 'nother animal. If your CO commands you to shoot at that berm with people behind it, or fire over the heads of people crawling in the dirt, you either do it, or you get thrown in jail. And I'm quite certain they have safety blocks in place to prevent accidents, because they don't want their valuable human soldiers being killed in training that could have been made safer.

So, to recap;

YOU DO NOT VOLUNTARILY SHOOT AT A TARGET WITH SOMEONE STANDING THREE FEET FROM YOUR INTENDED TARGET!

This isn't rocket surgery folks.

This is how "accidents" happen!

Screaming, "Oh god, that never happened before!"

Just.

Doesn't.

Cut it.

---

Hats off to The Firearm Blog for making a copy of the offending video before it was taken down.

That can't be good...

A while ago there was a stabbing in Ventura. It was particularly baffling because there appeared to be no motive. It was either completely random, or very targeted.

To police, (and to me) it seemed WAY too targeted to be random. Even though they had no proof of it, they operated under the assumption that this couple was targeted for some unknown reason.

Bad news.

Police today were still looking for a knife or weapon used in the fatal stabbing of a 61-year-old woman found in her bedroom Wednesday in the Ventura Keys area.

No confirmed connection, but it was almost 8 miles away from the first stabbing, and the police did not release information about the murder until 20 hours later. The police offered no explanation, but said they wouldn't do it again.

I'm not going to say this is a serial killer, but I am going to say...

That can't be good.

California's (lack of) future.

JD is one of the boots on the ground in the California higher education system.

He doesn't deal in numbers or years-old results like many others. He's there the moment a high school graduate steps bleary eyed into the real world, and he gets to test their aptitude.

JD is on the front lines in the battle against ignorance

Bad news.

Ignorance is winning.

And it's not the students' fault.

It's the system.

JD is angry.



Very angry.

Even if by magic we were able to fix California's infrastructure woes, what good is it as a state when the people who live in it can't handle simple English or moderate math?

Good fucking luck to all of us. We're going to need it.

Harbingers of Dangerous Archetypes

There is a place near work where I usually go for lunch. There are a few fast food places there, and a good parking spot in the shade, usually vacant, which overlooks an intersection nearby a freeway.

Because I work evenings, I get to see all the people heading home at the end of the day, and because of the location, I see airplanes passing overhead.

It's a good spot to sit and listen to the radio or read.

There was a camera mounted on top of one of the street light posts. This is fairly common in southern California, everywhere you look, you'll spot cameras at busy intersections, monitoring traffic to ensure a minor break down doesn't instantly back up for miles. But this camera was a remote control camera. It was mounted on a housing that allowed it to be rotated on its post, and tilted up and down. I noticed this camera more, because when I parked each day, it was pointed in a direction other than where you would expect. The bulk of the traffic came from two directions, and this camera seemed to point every way but those. (nor did it point at me, which I most certainly would have taken note of)

I'd idly wonder what the camera was for, and who was controlling it, but think little of it.

Some time later, another camera appeared below the first. It was a fixed position camera, and pointed at the bulk of the traffic, where one would expect it to point were it of limited mobility. I figured they wanted to be able to keep a permanent eye on the traffic, while looking around. Not a big thing, it just kind of made sense to me.

Some time later, another camera, exactly like the second appeared under the second. Fixed position camera, pointed at the same lane as the second. Again the movable camera on top pointed every way but at the traffic. I thought this odd.

Some time later, ANOTHER CAMERA, exactly like the third appeared under the third. Fixed position camera, pointed at the SAME lane as the third.

There were now four cameras atop this traffic light pole, and three of them pointed in the exact same direction. The cameras are pretty high up, there's no way the field of vision of one needed to be supplemented to view the entire street. The street also ran further back, and around a bend, but the cameras were pointed, seemingly at the same point in each lane of traffic on that street.

There was no reason for the overlap unless the vision was limited. Then I realized that the three cameras were older models that the one on top, and thought they might not have as good resolution. Then I thought perhaps they were zoomed in on each lane. One old camera with poor resolution could easily discern traffic conditions, but not provide clear pictures of drivers or license plates. If one were to use a manual zoom on the aged cameras, they would be able to do so, but for a limited range of visibility. So you'd need three cameras to watch three lanes with enough visibility to catch each front license plate, and face. Then I realized front license plates are not actively ticketed in Orange County. LA county tickets them mercilessly, because of their red light cameras, but it's not primary concern in OC. If they wanted license plates, they would turn them to see the cars passing, not approaching the intersection.

So what then?

I realize these seemingly redundant cameras are probably completely benign, and likely just another reminder of the wastefulness of governments, or an indication of three bureaucracies that insisted on a complete camera of their own...

But that doesn't mean I have to like watching street lights turned into surveillance towers, or that I should just shut up and eat my fries.

These kinds of things are harbingers of dangerous archetypes.

They are systems that are being implemented now, with good intentions, by honorable people. But that does not preclude them from being misused in the future by people who see troubling possibilities and opportunities in these objects that did nothing to raise our ire for so many years, and successfully blended into the background of our vision.

It's like watching sex offenders people be actively tracked by GPS, just because we think they're evil and are so likely to repeat their crimes that we must release them into the general population for some reason. People would support permanently locking up criminals like child molesters, but that's not provided as an option. Instead, we're asked to approve surveillance apparatuses, and websites, and databases, and checkpoints, and we are told to report any suspicious activity by our neighbors and family members, and we are offered cash prizes for doing so.

We're using a landmine as paperweight.

The benefits do not outweigh the risks.

Bill asks a simple question

Bill goes straight to the horse's mouth to cut through the exaggeration and shock to find out if the weapon used to kill two Oakland SWAT team members really was a fully automatic AK-47.

The answer he get from a police official is actually surprising...

I cannot comment on any of that information.

Sorry,

Officer Jeff Thomason

Why on earth are the specifics of the weapon used to murder two officers privileged information?

Maybe the gun is part of an ongoing investigation. Perhaps revealing its identity would put it in danger of retribution.

Why would the Oakland PD refuse to release this information?

I'm not so cynical as to postulate that they wish to allow people to continue to believe this felon was able to obtain a fully automatic AK-47 and used it to gun down these officers just because they want to use the deaths of these officers to progress a political agenda of gun control.

But it does make one wonder.

I'm no fan of the NY Times...

...but that's cold.

"New York Times Stock Now Costs Less Than Sunday Paper ... Maybe they could save costs by printing the paper on their stock certificates."

The Government Money Disease Spreads

You've no doubt heard about Wells Fargo catching much flak for planning an expensive "junket" for top earners of the company, after they accepted tax-payer money as a bailout. Originally they defended it as a standard practice to reward their top earners. After much negative news coverage, they decided to cancel the trip, and likely the practice.

Initially, I was happy they canceled the expensive and apparently extraneous trip after claiming poverty, but after I thought about it a bit, I realized that this is just spreading the government mentality to the private sector.

There is a serious difference between workers who decide to work in government, and workers who decide to work in the private sector. There is more money, more bonuses, more payouts, and more extras in the private sector. The government sector lacks most of those things, but makes up for it in stability, and usually better practical benefits.

This "junket," as it was derogatorily called in the media, was one of those private industry perks disappearing. Do you think the top earners at Wells Fargo are going to stay at Wells Fargo now that they've had their bonuses and perks cut? Why wouldn't they take their considerable skill elsewhere? What incentive would the people at the top have to stay?

Unfortunately, there is no way this will stop at "junkets" or "CEO pay". How long until companies who start accepting government cheese kill everything that makes them different from a government branch?

As these perks evaporate from these companies, the top producers of the companies will have less and less reason to stay, and revenue will fall, necessitating more government money.
Eventually, any company who accepts a government "bailout" will homogenize into the DMV.

Government money is an infection used to spread the government's influence.

The checks must stop.

SSL broken! Hackers create rogue CA certificate using MD5 collisions

SSL broken! Hackers create rogue CA certificate using MD5 collisions

You're likely asking yourself how the FUCK they managed to process all these MD5 collisions, they used the processing power of 200 PS3s. That's right; two hundred.

Just make sure you watch for spoofing guys. Don't trust that little lock icon any more. Trust that you browse directly to your banking/credit card site.

And now, the above post repackaged for the more visually minded;

The Suicide of Capitalism

There is a grave post over at Front Sight, Press.
The Suicide of Capitalism

Read the whole thing.

If you can.

A coup d’état took place in this country during the past two weeks ... The United States ceased to be a capitalist economy and became a managed socialist state.

This was the opener, and I thought it was a bit exaggerated until I read the rest of the post.

If you receive a paycheck a month from now, it will likely be possible only because the government insured the business loan that allowed your employer to cut your check.

This puts a pit in my stomach that I can't get rid of. Part of me wants to talk to our CEO, and ask if we're accepting any govt cheese. Another part of me is afraid to ask.

The supreme irony here is that capitalism has committed suicide. The greed, the risk taking, the predatory behavior and lack of responsibility among the most powerful financiers in the world has triggered a global financial collapse.

I will also observe that this feels like extortion, like we are being forced under threat of destruction to hand over our economic self-determination to the benevolent government.

The government got what it wanted: more power. The robber barons of Wall Street walked away with billions of dollars in their pockets. You know who will get the bill.

Read the whole thing.

Is the cold war really over?

If someone posed that question to me, I would laugh in their face.

After hearing this interview with a Soviet defector from 1985, everything might still be going according to plan...

Yuri Bezmenov
by onmyway02

These are strange times.

Strange, dangerous times.

UPDATE: Stout Republican does a bit of searching and finds something even more disturbing...

UPDATE: Doing just a run of this guys name on Google has a lot of links to youtube videos that don’t exist any more due to terms of use violations...

Bank runs

There, but for the grace of Chuck Schumer go I.

An unsettling future

DI has a post up, wherein he relates his personal difficulties with the high cost of oil, and covers what events could lead to fuel costs doubling.

John Bolton has recently stated that Israel "will have to" attack Iran due to estimates of it completing and possessing nukes sometime in 2009. Iran has recently taken delivery of Russian TOR-MI missiles. None of these concerns are fresh or new, but they have come to startling maturity. Iran has also made statements that if Israel hits them, they will "close" the Strait of Hormuz, only 21 miles wide at its' narrowest point, and strangle the route exiting the Persian Gulf for an estimated 27% of the world's oil exportation.

I believe the repercussions of an attack on Iran could double the price of gasoline at the pump in a matter of days, not weeks. That would paralyze society, especially if it occurs during the winter. It would virtually stop delivery of food to grocery shelves. What small town, with a budget that is already commonly in the red, plows its' highways after a big snowstorm with gasoline and diesel expenses of that magnitude? How does business function and continue? What happens to communications, electrical grids, police and fire resources? How long might it go on without relief? How desperate do cold, hungry people quickly become? Where do they go? What happens if banks close and people have no access to their moneys? No cell phone service or ATM's?

He goes on to ask his readers to prepare for the coming difficulties. Before you dismiss him as a "survivalist," ignore, for a moment, the first part of his post, and treat his recommendations as simple preparedness for unforeseen circumstances. All people should be somewhat prepared for disasters (natural or man made), and his simple requests will cost you very little time and money, and provide peace of mind.

The reason most people fail to prepare is not because they think a natural disaster could never happen. Most people don't prepare because they are afraid to think about what would happen if they were unprepared for a disaster. This seems a little backwards.

You don't need two year's worth of food, and a hand-pump well in your backyard. A few hundred dollars worth of preparation will put you head and shoulders above 95% of the population.

It's not fun to think about breakdowns such as these, but if you are a provider, you must.

As an aside, in the comments G-Man notes;

I've always thought it was quite odd that the liberals are always shrieking about a climate change catastrophe on one hand and then belittling the survivalists on the other... "The world's going to end but boy are you wierd for stockpiling and arming yourself to the teeth"... Oh well I've given up on hoping liberals would ever make sense...

May we all look back on these troubling times, and laugh at our worry.

What happened to my country?

Yosemite Sam over at The Ten Ring has a thoughtful post up that is worth your time.

In the evening, though, a curious incident took place. The train stopped at a station and two police officers, with M16’s, got on the car, one at the front and one at the back. My interest was immediately piqued, but soon, I could feel resentment and anger boiling up inside of me.

This was happening in America.

This wasn’t some airport or security zone. This was on a subway car, full of commuters, going home. I remember when I traveled to Kenya, when I was in the Air Force, and I noticed that soldiers and police with machine guns commonly patrolled civilian areas and I remember thinking with pride that I lived in a country where that didn’t happen.

Read the whole thing. This country is changing into something out of a damn movie.

A package arrives

What the hell did I buy?



I vaguely recall something...



Something I didn't believe could be real. I was sure it had to be a joke.





All evidence lead me to believe it was real, but I just refused to believe.






I had to buy it to be sure...






It's real.



Complete with little plastic toy guns.



Even though I'm looking at it right now, I just can't believe it.

My pinching fingers draw near my nose

Today's momentous decision was brought to us by George Bush's supreme court nominations.

I have previously stated my... reluctance... at "holding my nose" for McCain, but today's 5/4 decision was FAR too close for comfort. I don't care if the supreme court justices McCain appoints (possibly two) are just .01% more conservative. We need to take what we can get, otherwise we could lose big when important cases come up. Kim got me (re)thinking earlier, and I think this clenches it. I'll do my best to make McCain wish he never won, because I'll likely be fighting him on almost everything he tries to do, but it'll be worth it if it results in just one ruling like the one today. Somehow these supreme court justices have more bearing on the direction of the nation than the damn president.

I'm afraid that this coming election I'll do as Uncle recommends;
I’ll hold my nose, get good and hammered, and pull the lever for John McCain.

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.