Earworm Wednesday–06/19/2012

Admit it, you like it.  How man rockers do you see playing the cello?  How many do you see do it and still look like total bad asses?

Apocalyptica – I Don’t Care

SSCC #350 & #351–Clayton County

The Clayton County sheriff has hired two of the former Atlanta Police Department officers who were fired in the aftermath and investigations of the botched and unconstitutional Eagle raid, according to a report by WSB TV.

The city had to settle the suit for over $1 million dollars.  That’s right those two individuals cost the city $1 million in tax payer funds* and they are now employed some place else to repeat the process.

It is not as if there wasn’t cause to fire them either:

Adams and Mayes tried to get their jobs back with the APD by appealing to the city’s Civil Service Board but the three-board panel upheld the firings in both cases.

But evidently the County sheriff feels that those are the type of men he wants around his citizens.

State Sponsored Criminal #350: Willie Adams

#351: Cayenne Mayes

Because when you lie and violate the rights of citizens that is perfectly acceptable for you to go work some place else.  It’s not like someone who exercises bad judgment should get a job in a different line of work.

*I realize that while tax payers foot the bill, ultimately it’s the insurance company paying out.  What the taxpayers will foot is the increased rates because of their actions.  In the end that actually has the potential to cost the public more than just the payout.

Quote of the Day–Joe Huffman (06/19/2012)

What is extraordinary here is that Issa didn’t have Federal Marshalls rip his jacket and shirt off, tie him face down on the table, stuff a copy of the subpoena in his mouth, give him 30 lashes with a bull whip, then tell him there would a whipping every day at 9:00 AM until he fully complied or his flesh had been stripped off and his bones were polished clean.

Joe HuffmanExtraordinary Offer

June 19th, 2012


[Personally I think Joe’s response would have been way too kind.  Give me a bucket, a rat, and a blow torch.  Some assembly required.  If you don’t know how it works, don’t worry about it, it prevents you from knowing how mean, evil, and sadistic my mind can be towards those who willingly endanger my friends and family in the name of destroying my rights.*

Don’t worry Joe, it’s not cruel or unusual.  At the time the Bill of Rights was written lashing was still a standard punishment on the high seas.  In fact so was keelhauling which I think would also be a fantastic venture for Mr. Holder. –B]

*In my defense, I would feel bad for the rat.

Busy Day, pardon the light posting

In a long business meeting today and tomorrow.  Currently I feel the urge to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.

Fun thing is to see the main players involved in the discussion, count all the extra engineers in the room, figure in hourly engineering wages, this is one expensive meeting.

So enjoy this picture and read some of the folks in the blog roll on the right.

image

I had been meaning to post this before.  That shirt is just awesome!

The Streisand Effect Strikes Again…

If you’re unaware of the Streisand Effect, please educate yourself before reading further.

This isn’t a full blown drama llama, but we’ll call it a baby drama llama*.

Drama Llama Baby

So for those unaware, some idiot lawyer went and demanded money from The Oatmeal because The Oatmeal pointed out in a blog post that his client was stealing copyrighted material.  The Oatmeal replied in classic Oatmeal fashion.  You can also read a legal synopsis and prediction from the opening shots here.

Then FunkyJunk’s lawyer, a supposed whiz with things related the internet acted surprised at the response.  Charles Carreon then continued to flap his wings faster and with such ferocity that a hummingbird would not know how to keep up.  Though as of last Friday I figured the weekend would swallow him whole and that would be the end of his 15 minutes of fame caused by his stupidity.

I was wrong.  It appears that attempting to shutdown a collection for two non-profits wasn’t enough.  He now intents to force them to waste funds in frivolous litigation.  There’s a term to describe individuals who do things such as that, I believe it begins with a D and ends with a K.

Seriously, in what world where you commit numerous public relation disasters at the beginning is it a good idea to file lawsuits against two non-profits?  It is not a non-profits job to filter who and who does not raise funds on their behalf.  If I say I’m raising money for Soldiers’ Angels, that is me telling you where I’m sending the funds, that is not an endorsement by the non-profit.

So Charles Carreon feels it’s a good idea to sue the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Federation and then wonders why the internet has reacted the way it has.  Well, he’s wondering because he’s a clueless moron that wouldn’t know how the internet actually worked if all it was is two cups with a string in-between.

If Mr. Carreon feels that people are dehumanizing him, maybe it’s because those people don’t feel he’s actually human.  I think he’s a giant troll who bullies people and organizations with frivolous litigation without thought for the effect it will have on his fellow man.  His only thoughts are focused on how he can get people to stop pointing out how he’s an idiot.

If he hadn’t done anything this whole incident would have faded into obscurity but instead he doubled down on stupid.  Heck even after the response from the The Oatmeal just shutting up would have worked in his favor in allowing it to quickly blow over.

So in closing, Charles Carreon, you sir are a giant STD encrusted dick.  You’re actions and frivolous threats at the beginning were bad enough.  Now though you have proved your dickishness to the world by attacking two charities, one who’s sole goal is to the betterment and health of your fellow man.  Yeah, you’re not human, you’re a big fat dick.  Thank you for playing.

No I will not take this down because legally this is acceptable under the first amendment much to your dismay and displeasure.  I have provided facts and evidence to support my position, you and your legal threats amount to you throwing a tantrum like a 4 year old in a supermarket.  Grow up and act your age you spoiled rotten brat.  Besides the way to make stuff like this not happen to you is actually quite simple.  Don’t be a dick!

*I got pictures of llamas over the weekend and I need to use them so they get into the wild.  Winking smile

Accountabilibuddable–Seminole Fl

Former Seminole police officer Ronald Baker was sentenced Friday to life in prison for repeatedly molesting an underage female relative at his Sunrise home, taking pictures of the girl in compromising positions and storing those pictures on his home computer.

Honestly this one’s hard to actually say he’s really been held accountable as long as he’s still breathing.  However it is a nice start and if they put him in with the general population he would be on his way to finding out what it’s like to be on the receiving end.

Ronald Baker, may never know the benefit and safety solitary confinement would give you.

Quote Of The Day – Tam (06/18/2012)

I toyed with the idea of setting up a bogus profile as a 22-year-old named Tiffani-with-an-“i” myself, but figured that I’d run afoul of the Department of Natural Resources for hunting over bait.

Tam findavictim.com
June 18th, 2012


[I have mixed feelings about Foursquare and for the most part still haven’t figured out the purpose.  I will say it was nice when Ry and Joe came over for testing since it let me know Ry had arrived in town.  Just the same that’s a bit creepy.

I have disabled geo-tagging on the pictures on my phone and have otherwise disabled the location tracking in any application I do use.  I don’t let Facebook or Twitter tell people where I am when I push a status update.  It is amazing though the amount of information people will push out into public and then act surprised when then figure out bad people can do bad things with it.

Ars Technica wrote up two articles which I highly recommend reading.  The first was hardening your Android smart phone from stalkers.  The second was the same but geared towards you folks with your iPhones.

I have had many conversations with an individual directly tied to the Windows Phone 7 location system.  Bad people doing bad things was of serious concern during development.  However standing out in the open while willingly telling your phone, “Yes, tell everyone on the internet exactly where I am right now” kind of defeats their work.

Be safe out there and remember the following:  Anything that goes on the internet is ultimately public, especially those things tied to social media.

All that said, I have at times thought the same thing as Tam.  Hell when there was a supposed serial rapist on campus I was coming up with ingenious ways to go hunting while not getting caught.  I think that was probably a trait inherited from my father, I distinctly remember hearing about him wanting to drive around Tacoma during a rash of car jackings.  Maybe if law enforcement would actually catch criminals people wouldn’t think about catching the predators on their own.

Then again, with the attitude that everyone is responsible for crime prevention that could be encouraged.  It is merely the job of professional law enforcement to solve crimes after they have happened.  Ultimately I don’t have a problem with hunting two legged varmints over bait and find it perfectly fair and ethical.  They can remain unharmed quite simply by not trying to victimize someone.  -B]

Please Be Careful if You Do This…

So a coworker just bumped me this little incident through IM.

He drove upriver, investigated and with the help of Asotin County deputies and area landowners found the fire was started by someone shooting at an exploding target. The alleged fire-starter apparently fled the scene in such haste that he/she left behind an AK-47.

First up, we all know the identification abilities of both the press and law enforcement are how shall we say, lacking.  So I have a feeling it probably was not an AK-47.

Next up is why I’m writing this post.  If you’re going to play around with reactive targets, please be aware, be careful, and do it right.  Doing stupid stuff can cause the powers that be to outlaw things in an effort to stop stupidity.  They seem to think that laws will actually stop stupidity while those of us with functional brains know it just stops the smart and law abiding from enjoying freedom while making it a little more difficult for Darwin to do his job.

I’m not sure exactly why this fire started, there’s a couple different options.  First is that the bullet itself struck something and caused a spark resulting in a fire.  Not impossible, but not very likely unless they were shooting steel core surplus ammo.  I find this a possibility given the expeditious fleeing.

Laughably is the idea that the explosion itself set something on fire.  Combustion, and the heat that accompanies it, dissipates in milliseconds at most.  For the fireballs we create at Boomershoot we actually have to have road flares to cause the fuel to ignite because there is no heat remaining as the vapor cloud expands.  We have added things such as magnesium and other materials and this does help.  Assuming this was Tannerite, it is possible that some of the elements were still combusting when it hit the ground, I just am a bit skeptical.

Lastly they were attempting to be Ry and recreate the following.

DSC_6822

It is well known that creating a fireball like that can land you in an interesting position.  The heat radiated after combustion begins can easily cause surrounding plant life to ignite.  We do it prior to the fire season beginning as well for numerous reasons.  Trying to put out a fire as it rages across the field wouldn’t exactly be fun.  Think of the exploding toilet in 2008.

There is a second reason and that is Boomerite that is spread on the ground can actually cause a fire.  The KClO3 breaks down exothermically under UV and can ignite surrounding material.

But seriously, if you’re going to go out into the woods and create a fireball.  Be ready for some stuff to be lit on fire.  It is going to happen and you better be ready to fight it.  So if you’re going to do it please do the following:

  • Have fire extinguishers at the ready
  • Bring numerous friends to help extinguish the fire
  • Soak the surrounding area with water if it’s been dry over the previous couple days
  • Be ready with dirt buckets too
  • Have a plan to deal with fire

Seriously, it only takes one person to screw it up for the rest of us.  Please, don’t be that guy.