Quote of the Day – James Comey (12/14/2015)

[Question by : If I buy a gun on the internet is it delivered to my home?]

I assume it is shipped to you but I don’t know for sure actually.

James Comey – Director of the FBI

Senate Hearings regarding firearms purchases 12/9/2015


[The top law enforcement officer in the country doesn’t know the answer to this. An answer which was clearly defined in the Gun Control Act of 1968. If you buy a firearm online it must be shipped from an FFL to another FFL. If it’s a pistol, the receiving FFL where you pick it up must also be located in your state of residence. Additionally all firearms laws still apply.

Pro-tip, not just for idiots like Comey, if you don’t know the answer to a question there is only one proper answer: “I do not know currently, let me find out and I’ll get back to you.”

The media, not to mention the uneducated though, lap it up. Seriously I wish I had been a senator on that hearing so I could have publicly roasted his ass for that line of bullshit. -B]

 

Quote of the Day – Chris Byrne (12/10/2015)

Our constitution could not be written today… and if by some miracle it were, it would never be ratified. It is too simple, and too radical.

It was radical then, it is still radical now. It was and is intentionally so. It created a nation, and a government, based on a principle that had never been tried before, and I don’t believe has been tried since.

Those who “misinterpret” it, do so intentionally, because they do not understand, or cannot accept, the notion of a government of strictly limited and enumerated powers, and a people of nearly unlimited, inherent, pre-existing, individual rights.

The notion that government cannot do everything they want it to, because they want it to, is entirely unacceptable to them. They cannot even comprehend it, never mind accept it.

And so, they dismiss the “inconvenient” language, as if it was meaningless, and twist it to fit whatever interpretation they find desirable.

They simply pretend the entire basis of the constitution, from which it solely derives its legitimacy and authority, does not exist at all.

That somehow, the “real” basis is some mishmash of communitarianism, authoritarianism, and majoritarianism, which can be altered and reinterpreted to suit the whims of “society”, as they see fit.

Chris ByrneFacebook Post

December 6th, 2015


[I have nothing else to add. -B]

 

Something is Afoot…

OG-AA794_GRIDAT_NS_20140204171308Back in April of 2013 there was an attack on a power station in Southern California. The attack was calculated, detailed, planned, and execute well. There were many details that perked my interest including the oil tanks being targeted instead of the windings themselves. This would limit catastrophic damage to the transformer. Additionally numerous fiber-optic lines in the area were cut, including those run by Level 3 Communications.

I have read a few writeup discussing the attack and I did come across one theory that was interesting.

Gabriel: Have you ever heard of Harry Houdini? Well he wasn’t like today’s magicians who are only interested in television ratings. He was an artist. He could make an elephant disappear in the middle of a theater filled with people, and do you know how he did that? Misdirection.
Stanley: What the f*** are you talking about?
Gabriel: Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.
Swordfish movie (2001)

[See the PowerPoint here]

On the morning of the 16th of April 2013 the following events unfolded at, and around, the PG&E Metcalf Transmission Substation in San Jose, Calif.:

  • 12:58 a.m. AT&T fiber-optic telecommunications cables were cut not far from U.S. Highway 101 just outside south San Jose.
  • 1:07 a.m. Some customers of Level 3 Communications, an Internet service provider, lost service. Cables in its vault near the Metcalf substation were also cut.
  • 1:31 a.m. A surveillance camera pointed along a chain-link fence around the substation recorded a streak of light that investigators from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office think was a signal from a waved flashlight. It was followed by the muzzle flash of rifles and sparks from bullets hitting the fence.
  • 1:37 a.m. PG&E confirms received an alarm from motion sensors at the substation, possibly from bullets grazing the fence.
  • 1:41 a.m. San Jose Sheriff’s department received a 911 call about gunfire, sent by an engineer at a nearby power plant that still had phone service.
  • 1:45 a.m. The first bank of transformers, riddled with bullet holes and having leaked 52,000 gallons of oil, overheated – at which time PG&E’s control center about 90 miles north received an equipment-failure alarm.
  • 1:50 a.m. Another apparent flashlight signal, caught on film, marked the end of the attack. More than 100 shell casings of the sort ejected by AK-47s were later found at the site.
  • 1:51 a.m. Law-enforcement officers arrived, but found everything quiet. Unable to get past the locked fence and seeing nothing suspicious, they left.
  • 3:15 a.m. A PG&E worker arrives to survey the damage.

The damage to the substation took 27 days to repair and cost $15.4 Million. In the substation’s 500kV yard, ten transformers were damaged; In the 230kV yard, seven transformers were damaged; In the 115kV yard, 6 circuit breakers were damaged. It was also claimed that a total of 52,000 gallons of mineral oil (used for cooling) leaked as a result of the bullet strikes.

The damage to the fiber-optic telecommunications infrastructure was repaired within 24 hours. AT&T had six cables cut and needed to install new cables to work around the affected area. LEVEL 3 Communications had one cable cut, which was repaired within 10 hours.

The attack on the substation was so over-the-top, especially given that no long-term damage was inflicted, that it more appropriately should have been an entry in Bruce Schneier’s Movie Plot Threat Contest. The trope “orgy of evidence” comes to mind because the attack was so inconsequential for the level of effort expended. Sure it lightened PG&E’s wallet and provided an opportunity for endless sound bites by consultants and lobbyists touting their employers agendas, but nobody’s lights went out as a result of this attack.

So this brings us back to Houdini’s misdirection. Two events occur, one is over-the-top and will obviously lead in the morning media, the other deals with some cut cables in holes next to railroad tracks – decidedly non-spectacular and non-photogenic.

The thing is is that the Metcalf Transmission Substation is next to railroad tracks. And it happens that the railroads’ right of way is used to run fiber-optic cables. I’m sure you’ve heard of SPRINT, which use to be SP Communications, which was founded by Southern Pacific Railroad way back when. Fiber is why all the big name companies in Silicon Valley want to be as close to the railroad tracks as possible!

If we assume that the real target was the telecommunications infrastructure, how would someone tap some of the most monitored lines in the world?

By causing the fiber cables to be so extensively damaged that new sections have to be pulled to work around the damage. This level of disruption would require that any quality/security scans performed – using optical time domain reflectometers (OTDRs) – be re-calibrated after the repairs. The new cable sections could have been pre-engineered to have clip-on couplers (passive taps) built in that exert “micro bending” (i.e., spatial wavelength displacement). If they are detectable by the OTDR they would probably show up as noise near the repaired areas and be ignored. And the voila! Job done.

The next challenge for the strike team would be getting the output from the couplers to somewhere it could be analyzed. Once it was confirmed that the couplers had not been detected, then another team could move in and install appropriate transmitters or couple them into dark fiber for back-haul to data extraction.

We may never know the who/why of this attack. The over-the-top nature of it suggests that it was corporate sponsored as opposed to sovereign. The Metcalf Substation does have some interesting corporate neighbors, but given the nature of the communications traffic flowing in that right of way just about anyone using or traversing that corridor could have been the target.

TL;DR: The substation was actually a diversion.

But there wasn’t much to give credence to the situation until I saw my inbox this morning. Let me repeat something before we start with the new data:

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three or more times is enemy action. And I don’t believe in coincidence.

Lets start with the first article that hit my inbox, USA today.

The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California’s San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning.

Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state’s capital.

FBI agents declined to specify how significantly the attack affected customers, citing the ongoing investigation. In Tuesday’s attack, someone broke into an underground vault and cut three fiber-optic cables belonging to Colorado-based service providers Level 3 and Zayo.

The attacks date back to at least July 6, 2014, said FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich.

(Emphasis mine.) Well that’s interesting, but it doesn’t sound all that interesting. The article does note that the incidents have occurred in remote areas but attempts to play it as merely petty vandalism to delay people from getting their cat videos. (No I’m not making it up, see this line…)

Backup systems help cushion consumers from the worst of the attacks, meaning people may notice slower email or videos not playing, but may not have service completely disrupted, he said.

But repairs are costly and penalties are not stiff enough to deter would-be vandals, Doherty said.

“It’s a terrible social crime that affects thousands and millions of people,” he said.

First you have to catch the vandals to fine them, and if this has nothing to do with vandalizing infrastructure but instead tapping it this is a very serious thing. But certainly those lines will help calm those who don’t know details, have the attention span of a squirrel, and don’t have the memory to correlate other external events that are most likely related.

Now lets flip over to the Wall Street Journal.

The latest attack hit several cables in Livermore, Calif., shortly before 4:30 a.m. Pacific time and hadn’t been repaired as of early Tuesday evening, according to several Internet service providers affected by the outage. Some operators complained that law enforcement activity made it harder for crews to fix the problem.

“It’s very inconvenient in terms of getting up at 4 in the morning,” said Peter Kranz, chief executive of local Internet provider Unwired Ltd.

FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich said the agency understood operators’ frustration but needed its investigators to look for evidence before anyone patches up the cuts.

“When some of the first cuts were taking place, the cuts and cables were fixed, and there was no evidence, no anything to look at,” he said. “We just need to have a little bit more time to have our people go in.”

I love the complaints about law enforcement making it difficult to repair the communication lines because they want to inspect and collect evidence. This is a classic case of “repair the problem, investigate no further on root cause.” Please stop digging you could induce panic.

Again the paper plays this off not nearly as serious almost as if it’s just some kids out pranking the world. Then we get to the local paper…

The severed fiber optic cables that disrupted Sacramento-area communications is just one in a series of 11 Bay Area incidents in the past year being investigated by the FBI.

Phone, television and Internet services were disrupted in Auburn and the surrounding areas following three severed cables in Alameda County Tuesday morning, according to the federal agency.

Since July 6, 2014, there have been 11 incidents of vandalism to fiber optic cable networks in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich said at this point it is unclear why the cables are being damaged, but said state and federal law enforcement are coordinating on the investigation.

According to communications provider Wave Broadband, three major fiber optic cables were severed at around 4:20 a.m., causing service outages in Sacramento, Rocklin and Auburn areas.

Wait, it wasn’t just one cable shared by multiple service providers, but three different cables? Additionally as these were related to the backbone and given one of the providers involved you just tapped a decent chunk of the internet. Just what the hell is going on down there. I start searching for more information, including something on the Metcalf substation incident to try to cross reference and discover this:

The Silicon Valley power substation that was attacked by a sniper in April 2013 was hit by thieves early Wednesday morning, according to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, despite increased security.

The substation, near San Jose, Calif., is the source of energy for thousands of customers, and the idea that it was the target of a well-organized attack, and that it might have been disabled for an extended period, raised anxieties about the possible broader vulnerability of the grid. The attack this week did not involve gunfire, and it did not seem intended to disable the facility.

The date on that “theft” is August 27, 2014. The recent string of attacks on the fibre lines started July 2014. Tell me, if you wanted to inspect the response and repair actions of an attack couldn’t you just easily disguise it as a simple theft? You could get up close and personal and inspect exactly how the substation was repaired and what additional actions were taken to harden the substation.

Look, I’m a big fan of Halon’s razor and I hate conspiracy theories because honestly 99% of them are bullshit. But we have multiple, repeat incidents. There were clues and suspicion of possible nation-state involvement which were dismissed. We have an administration who actively works to diminish the significance of attacks and events that surround us and affect us in deep and profound ways. Additionally we see that there are outside nation states who have taken a keen interest in the United States. Just look at the Office of Personnel Management hack, seriously that is a threat beyond what most realize. Then while all this is going on we have people calling to critically weaken our cyber security infrastructure, in the name of stopping terrorism.

There is someone gathering intelligence, placing equipment in the correct locations, and improving their leverage against us. We’re in a technological cold war and we’re seeing the spill over from the physical side of things. Things are not looking good, safe, or secure, especially with over 18 trillion in national debt. Stay safe and keep your powder dry.

In which crazy comes out… (Get off my side)

Initially I was writing up a post and just ran out of time on it but that is melding into this one. You see there was a group of people who engaged in attention seeking behavior during the January 15th rally and legislative meet that has quite honestly created a serious rift. Not only has it created a rift but there is a bit more of a history involved than just, “the crazies showed up.” It should be noted that the following is my observations only and is not in any way to be attributed to any group I may volunteer for or work with.

Brief Background:

Before the tally was even fully complete an individual started organizing a rally December 13th. There were numerous other individuals who were attempting to help ensure:

  1. The event went off without any serious problems and remained a positive event.
  2. That people would stay engaged and continue to be supportive come the opening of the legislature.

The group support route was heavily rejected. So much so that it actually made the Seattle Times as the organizer made decisions that were not exactly positive. Free permit, oh my god it’s the end of the world because they’re wanting a logistical heads up. But I digress. The permit thing became a very serious craw and caused many to just walk away to leave that organizer on his own. We didn’t detract from his protest but we weren’t supplying effort to support him, he was on his own.

At the same time, actually starting in September, conversation was started regarding an event at the capital in the event 594 passed. We directed the effort of all the groups trying to help with the December 13th rally to one where input, help, and unification actually came in to play. This however didn’t stop claims from the other group of how we were undermining or attacking them. How no one really knows.

As we closed in on January 15th, it became more and more common. Attacking people who were working to support what they felt were going to be effective methods instead of what many felt of the December 13th rally where it would be a giant circle jerk where nothing was really accomplished.

Well nothing happened at the December 13th rally, there was no actual outcome or changes because of the rally. Not saying that people shouldn’t have gone, but I have limited amounts of time and I have absolutely no interest in wasting my time on symbolic gestures. My goal is to be effective and actually achieve what I set out to do. I am also strategic about it and am willing to play the chess game to make it happen.

Some of people also tried to claim the rally was the work of SAF, CCRKBA, POGR, etc. Nope, sorry, hate to break it to you, it was 100% grass-roots. Know how I know? Because I was sitting at the tables helping plan the damn thing.

What Happened:

The morning of the 15th the rally was set up and all was well and good. At the start of the rally everyone was gathered on the steps and the speakers began. There were a couple outbursts yelling at speakers from a group of about 15-20 in the back who eventually moved all the way to the top of the Capitol steps. They had banners from the December 13 rally and were waving them. They yelled a couple of times to garner attention with one-off statements. Everyone for the most part ignored them. They started becoming more disruptive during Paige Biron’s speech. I just ignored it, that is until we heard the familiar sound of charging handles and bolts. I was mortified when I looked back to see loaded magazines being pulled and inserted and charging handles struck. This happened about midway through Joe Huffman’s speech. Who they kept trying to talk over as well. Joe did a fantastic job refusing to engage the misbehaving and distracting children in the back.

After the children started playing with their firearms there was a rapid influx of Washington State Patrol officers. One officer immediately approached the MC to find out how we would like to deal with the situation. I at the time was searching for another organizer so we could effectively talk to State Patrol. Everyone around me in the crowd, many of who were long time gunnies were noticeably alarmed and uncomfortable with what was going on. At least 3 people made comments about why WSP was not arresting them under R.C.W. 9.41.270.

Source, The News Tribune

I need to buy that WSP officer a coffee.

After chatting with the M.C. the WSP officer immediately went up the stairs and shortly after the group dispersed into the Capitol. One lone individual came out yelling, “Patriots come help us storm our capitol.” After 3 times he gave up and moved on. It should also be noted they did this just before Matt Shea spoke about HB-1245 and other pro-gun bills were discussed. I suppose not being at the center of attention was too much for them.

From there they entered the Capitol, I wasn’t present for it but the news media was.

988-SqfHe.AuSt.55

 Here’s a copy of the video of what happened in the gallery.

As much time as I spent in the legislative office buildings I didn’t see any of these individuals there. I only ever saw them in the capitol building so I don’t think they were there to actually engage and talk with their legislators.

Stop coon fingering your weapon, leave it alone unless you actually need it, you narcissistic attention whore.

From there we move into more WTFery.

10356329_10155058810195405_2362466223343182067_n

This does not help engender relations or confidence with those on the other side, much less the fence. I found out that calls were coming into Olympia dispatch about an active shooter at the Capitol. It appears there were some Legislative Aids who were unaware of the rally, and the presence of masked men and long arms raised their concern.

Boy wonder himself makes an appearance in this thread, though I’m not sure it’s publicly accessible. Watching him get roasted by our side was quite entertaining.

Fallout…

Press coverage did exactly what you expected. Focus on the crazy, ignore the every day individual.

Anette Wachter is interviewed by Q13 fox.

Anette Wachter is interviewed by Q13 fox.

Thankfully Q-13 did air part of their interview with Adina, however most of the actual photo coverage is the individuals above. As usual our buddies at the CSGV used the stupidity to their advantage.

CSGV-Jan-15-Rally

The worst part though is there is now a threat to open carry in the Capitol. The initial shot came this morning:

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen announced Friday that the public will no longer be able to openly carry firearms in the state Senate chamber’s public viewing area.

Owen said a notice of the change will be posted outside the gallery at the Capitol, likely before Monday’s floor session.

“We’re just noting that open carry is a form of demonstration and it’s no different than carrying a placard or something else of that nature,” he said.

I suspect this is going to backfire as anyone who can legally own a firearm but does not have a CPL must open carry. I don’t concealed carry or open carry, I just freaking carry. The problem is we have people like the above who carry at people and that is the problem. I suspect a bar on long guns could probably stand, doubly so as this particular group was trying to use the long guns in a form of protest which is expressly forbidden in the gallery.

Dave Workman had this to say:

UPDATE (Friday, 5:45 p.m.) The Associated Press is now reporting that the State Senate is banning the open carry of firearms in the Senate gallery. This announcement underscores the backlash being expressed by many rights activists, including people who were at Thursday’s rally, who were not favorably impressed by the open carry demonstration. There were several people in the crowd who were openly carrying sidearms, and who have been critical of the long gun exhibition.

Honestly I wish that WSP had nailed them under 270 or the violation of the gallery rules regarding protest and use of props. If you want to carry, then carry. But don’t carry and then try to break the rules thinking your special. All you do is look like an ass and make the rest of us look bad, and in the end sabotage the efforts of the people you claim to support. Not only that but you may run rights backwards by being retarded.

Additional side notes:

The organizer for the December 13th rally was arrested on the 15th. It appears yelling at a judge while approaching the bench is not acceptable courtroom behavior.

In addition, he allegedly took exception to a ruling by Judge Judith L. McCauley because she did not want spectators live-streaming video from the courtroom.

“Seim began yelling at the judge and walking toward her bench,” Gjesdal said. McCauley “ordered him removed from the courtroom.”

When deputies tried to escort him out, he allegedly began to pull away and resist. He was placed under arrest and later booked into jail for interfering with a court, disorderly conduct and contempt of court, Gjesdal said.

Most entertainingly the stupidity appeared to be genetic as his father decided to get arrested in a show of solidarity with him.

How I feel…

Honestly I feel a bit betrayed by my own. Get the hell off my side. As someone reminded me tonight:

“Politics is the art of the possible.”

We are quite literally trying to accomplish the impossible in a not totally friendly environment. We need 2/3s majority to touch anything and that isn’t possible without fence sitters. Further when people on our own side are shaking their heads you can turn what was a level battle into an uphill one. We most likely won’t actually get a full repeal this round, after yesterday it most likely will be DOA as it won’t even make it through committee since that’s not full of friendlies. My goal is to be effective and get shit done. Acting like a child and throwing a tantrum doesn’t help anyone. All it does is make you look like an ass. Tell me, is anyone other than the child excited when throwing a tantrum in a store?

Podcast Post 594…

Part two of my 2A Today podcast just went up. I talk about the details of what happened, what the future looks like, and what’s on the horizon.

I also discuss the December 13th rally and some of the interesting bits that have come across my desk about it. Again if you want to go, go. It is symbolic and there has been no clear-cut plan of what or how they plan on what their going to accomplish. There has also been plenty of drama from the organizer that makes me want to keep as far away from it as possible. Doubly so as the drama is unnecessary and detracts from the goal and merely serves to draw him attention, drive away those in the middle, and give ammunition to an already hostile media.

I’ve had a few people tell me that it is going to “establish precedent” that it’s unenforceable. Internally all I can do on that one is laugh. That is not going to affect a legal case, no matter what you think. The goal of this law is, and always has been, selective enforcement and to provide a chilling effect regarding the free exercise of the right.

If you want to go, go, I’m not stopping you. I have other things to do and better ways to apply my valuable time. If you do go, be aware, be vigilant, and have an escape route. Do not be surprised to find bad actors, or people who are otherwise there to merely manipulate a crowd of that size. Remember mob dynamics and that there is a large difference between a person and a group of people. There are people out there who look to take advantage of that.

Sidenote and update:
I do have one correction, when we recorded we were planning on January 13th, 2015 for the rally at the start of the legislative session. After chatting with a bunch of other people who work regularly with state legislators it has been moved to January 15th, 2015. This is because legislators will still be largely busy with unpacking and other items on the 13th.

You can watch for updates and more information here. Here is the announcement notice.

On January 15th, 2015 at 9 a.m. the Washington Firearms Leadership and Activism Group (WAFLAG), Protect Our Gun Rights Washington and the Gun Rights Coalition will host and both the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and the Second Amendment Foundation will sponsor the first 2015 Legislative Rally against I-594 and other bad gun laws on the front steps of the Washington Capitol building in Olympia.

This grass roots event will include hundreds of voters, supporters of Second Amendment rights with speakers Adina Hicks (Executive Director, Protect Our Gun Rights Washington), Rick Halle (National Coordinator, Gun Rights Coalition) and Paige Biron (President, Pink Pistols of Seattle) helping to kick off a day of sharing the concerns of Second Amendment supporters with legislators throughout the Capitol campus.

The legislature is in session for this rally, legislators are on campus and this is a great opportunity for us to make our voices heard. To drive home to our legislators that you should be taken seriously please dress to impress and make sure that all sidearms are securely holstered. Wear business semi-formal or formal if you’ve got it (slacks, good denim, suits, dresses, etc.).

Please leave your long arms home to avoid scaring uncommitted legislators into the arms of Bill Gates, Nick Hanauer and the rest of the 594 crowd. We’re going to Olympia to create a positive impression and WIN, not to put on a media show.

After the rally, attendees will visit their individual legislators to talk with them about the many flaws of I-594 and other firearms rights issues. For help scheduling meetings with YOUR legislator, call Adina Hicks of POGR at (425) 351-4088.

Help will be provided at the rally to folks unsure of who their legislator is and how best to meet with them. In the meantime, locate your legislator by using http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/ or contact them using the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Let them know your views!

Be Present. Be effective. Fight the Fight!

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Tibor Kovacs Update & Legal Threats…

Tibor Kovacs. Picture via Starr Telegram and the Arlington Police Department.

Tibor Kovacs. Picture via Starr Telegram and the Arlington Police Department.

So over two years ago while I was running the State Sponsored Criminal Count I did a post about this incident out of Arlington Texas.

Update regarding Tibor Kovacs’s legal entanglement:

Now according to this following quote from one of his local papers a Judge ruled him to be rehired in June. While at the same time the city has stated its desire to continue to appeal.

A Tarrant County judge reinstated an Arlington police officer who was fired three years ago after being accused of sexually assaulting his girlfriend and interfering with the investigation.

State District Judge David Evans ruled late Monday that the Police Department should immediately rehire Tibor Kovacs and awarded him $164,471 in back pay.

Assistant City Attorney Melinda Barlow said that Arlington plans to appeal the ruling and that Kovacs had not rejoined the force as of Tuesday and had not received the back pay.

The story does state that a grand jury failed to indict him on the charge however that is neither a guilty nor not guilty verdict. The priors of the case remain as a matter of public record and historical documentation.  If I were a magic 8 ball my response regarding Tibor Kovacs and his place on the count would be something like this, “Reply hazy try again later”. I don’t know the details of what’s going on in this pissing match but obviously there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark and I don’t know who’s good or who’s bad.

Now I hadn’t been keeping up with this specific case, there’s a huge pile of them in the criminal count, though I am more than happy to give updates and corrections when things are taken care of in a civil manner. Seriously that update was an email from one of the involved parties and said, hey you might be interested in seeing this. It was two different news articles detailing the update which I then reported. It was polite, they understood the value of not being confrontational, providing information and letting people arrive at their own conclusions.

How not to become my friend.

When something like the following hits my inbox, I am less than pleased and even more specifically less than inclined to converse directly with said individual and instead promptly seek legal counsel.

Email 1:

From: Tibor Kovacs 
Subject: information removal request

Message Body:
The link:  http://www.the-minuteman.org/2012/09/12/sscc-409-arlington/

is incorrect and highly defamatory!  I request the prompt removal from your website.
Thank you Barron for your cooperation in this matter.

Tibor Kovacs

--
This mail is sent via contact form on The Minuteman http://www.the-minuteman.org

Semi-polite but obvious legal threat. My father didn’t raise no fool, I was raised in a house filled with law books by a man with a Juris Doctorate. I know the basics and I know when to shut my mouth and not deal directly with someone.

So I contact a law-smith on the subject to get the extra ins and outs and find out that there are numerous reasons this is NOT defamation, that I should not be concerned, and am directed to ignore the email because any response should go through counsel given the obvious threat. Had things been more polite I probably would have been more receptive but using the phrases “incorrect” and “highly defamatory” to a set of quoted statements from a news paper makes me want to dig in my heels. Then a couple days later I get the following into the inbox associated with my domain registration:

Email 2:

Subject: information removal request
Date: 09/26/2014 07:41 PM
From: Tibor Prince <>
Reply-To: Tibor Prince <>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
The following link on your website: http://www.the-minuteman.org/2012/09/12/sscc-409-arlington/ is outdated, false and defamatory.
For legal reasons I request the prompt removal of that link from your site!
Thank you!
Tibor Kovacs

I write-up a post and am then directed by my preliminary law smith to just let it die. It will just rile him up and no good can come of it. The law smith states the same as before but that I might start preparing with full counsel for a response letter. Bam, prep the lineup and say I’ll give him one more chance to just let it die.  Well you’re reading this and a bunch of my friends on Facebook were asking me WTF was going on and well here it is.

Email 3:

From: Tibor Kovacs <[email protected]>
Subject: legal request for information removal

Message Body:
Mr.  Barron,

In light of District court decision to obliterate all claimed arrest records, Tibor Kovacs was never 
arrested in accordance with law and Texas Code of Criminal procedure 55.03.  Therefore I respectfully
make the request to remove all such reference to my arrest.  I was also reinstated by the District 
court to my position in light of the false allegation made against me.  

I ask you to stop disparaging my name and jumping on the bandwagon of trashing officers based on the 
barrage of constant complaints we get after arresting thousands of offenders you wouldn't want around 
your family.  It is an ungreatful career and we don't make many friends by arresting people.  Don't be
one that makes our job harder!

Thank you.

Tibor Kovacs

--
This mail is sent via contact form on The Minuteman http://www.the-minuteman.org

I just immediately shook my head and fired off the email to the full counsel. Now he did advise me I could just pull the article, make it all go away and it would cost me less money. I don’t care, at this point with the intimidation behavior I wasn’t budging and I’m more than happy to shell out cash to do the right thing, even if it hurts. Overall from my interactions thus far, Tibor Kovacs seems like a petty tyrant instead of a polite individual. I’m more than happy to stand up when others won’t. As I said on Facebook:

“Barron you can just make yourself feel better by just taking it down and doing what the guy asked.”

“How does me giving a petty tyrant what he wants when I’m in the right make me feel better?”

That seriously was a conversation I had yesterday. It reminded me that I am unique when it comes to principals when compared with many. I am willing to suffer discomfort, pain, and expense purely because of principal. While many would look at me like a fool, I feel more physically upset at doing the wrong thing to make my life easier than it is just doing the right thing.

Many people often wonder how they will react in a trying situation. There are many more who later on regret their decisions.

I do not have to wonder. I am glad to say I have yet to ever regret a decision or action I took that I believed to be the right thing to do. Even when doing the right thing worked against me.

That’s why I just dropped 6 bills with the potential to spend more on something I could just make go away by pushing a delete button.

#‎CharacterCounts, especially when the other guy doesn’t appear to have any.

I had done some searching and couldn’t find any record of the District court decision, however my lawyer was more than happy to fill me in on TCCP 55.03. It is an expungement of the arrest from the courts, nothing more. It is not a finding by a judge of not-guilty with prejudice, it is merely clearing someone’s arrest record who wasn’t convicted. Hey, good, that’s the way it should be. If asked in a legal setting if you were arrested you should be able to say no if you weren’t convicted. I know better than anyone, I have two felonies that follow my ass around I was never convicted for.

I however did not and do not run around like a 5 year old screaming at people who wrote news articles and commentary at the time.

Seriously this behavior spinned me into a world of pissed off and is the absolute wrong way to approach me correcting information in the count. Doubly so since he waited until email 3 to even present any of the information above and even then didn’t provide copies of the orders or documentation, I was merely supposed to take his word on the subject.

So my lawyer sent this in response:

So here’s my full summary of the above and interpretation.

Tibor Kovacs may or may not have committed the crimes he was accused of.  While a grand jury failed to indict, that is neither an indicator of guilt or innocence. That does not change the actual history of the case and honestly wish him the best of luck.

That said the behavior of Tibor Kovacs as outlined above implies to me he is a petty tyrant of the exact type I ran the criminal count to highlight. While the original charge may have evaporated his behavior of intimidation and legal threats in an attempt to intimidate me to pull what is quite honestly a 2 year old news article highlights his character quite well. Doubly so since the statement of being willing to interview Tibor Kovacs was sincere and after proofing the letter I also told my lawyer to note I would even allow him to provide a written statement which I would include in its entirety unedited.

It has been one week since this all went down. I have heard nothing at which point I believe Tibor Kovacs does not wish to talk to me or make a statement. If he sees this he is free to say something in the comments on his own behalf and I will publish it unedited. Note the comments are automatically closed after 30 days due to spam. 

Deep down I have a serious issue with scrubbing things or otherwise trying to erase them from history. This to me is the equivalent of asking a newspaper to delete all of the stories relating to the topic. While yes this is the internet and I can make it go away, is that correct with regards to the historical record? 25 years ago people would look up the history of a series of events using microfiche in a library. The internet is the modern day library.

Winning Quote Related to the Subject:

I had many friends text or message me asking what was going on. One friend had a conversation with me that was just epic:

Buddy: So what’s the deal? Someone try to come between you and the last Snickerdoodle?

Me: Basically cop emailed me and tried to intimidate me into pulling down a 2 year old post.

Buddy: WTF? But you’re white.

Buddy: Sorry… someone must have got a pic of us walking to lunch, and said, “That’s him… the “threatening guy” That’s Barron!”

Buddy: Maybe it’s your choice of donut providers…

Well more than just a single quote but frankly after the beginning context the statements were just hilarious. Again, I love my friends.

Additional Observation

There is a much different attitude between Tibor Kovacs and myself; and it is actually kind of disturbing. I am more than happy to talk about my arrest and legal experience despite the fact I think it was complete bullshit. I lay it out in front of everyone and am more than happy to discuss it with anyone who asks. I have nothing to hide, I stand behind my actions that day and while I wish the outcome was different I do not feel I did anything wrong.

Tibor Kovacs is moving to sweep things under the rug, doesn’t want to discuss it, and is yelling at people to try and make it go away. I only have one question on that front, Why? My conscience is clean and I don’t give two shits about that case because there’s always two sides to every story and I’m more than happy to make sure people hear mine.

Lastly the woe is me, people hate me for doing my job, so on and so forth. Here’s the thing Mr. Kovacs, I don’t want you anywhere near my family just as I don’t want a violent felon around them. You have this badge which you seem to think grants you extra rights and immunities and while I can shoot a felon attempting to harm my family without fear of reprisal, the same can not be said for a thug with a badge. Your attitude and behavior in directly interacting with me doesn’t indicate that you’re an honest man with a badge but a thug. Like any brotherhood though, your brothers will circle the wagons even if you’re totally in the wrong. Taking all that into account I’d actually rather have the violent felon around them, at least then I could perforate them and be assured a equitable and fair investigation into what happened.

*TL;DR:

Stolen as a direct quote from a buddy:

well, here’s the deal:  if he were 1) not a dick, 2) didn’t pull the “woe is the life of a cop” card, or 3) actually provided some evidence on his behalf, then it’d be reasonable to at least ask you to add some extra info to let people make their own grown up decisions.

It should also be noted that picking a fight like this is never a good idea if your objective is to suppress information. Your best bet is to just ignore it and let it fade into obscurity. That page in its entire existence has had a whole whopping 57 views as of the time I wrote this article. Now that number is likely to go up given another post referencing it, especially with the threat of legal consequences. Behavior like that attracts attention, just ask Barbra Streisand.

Quote of the Day – Darrell Issa (9/25/2014)

Eric Holder is the most divisive U.S. attorney general in modern history,… by needlessly injecting politics into law enforcement, Attorney General Holder’s legacy has eroded more confidence in our legal system than any attorney general before him.

Darrell Issa – Quote to Fox News on Holder Stepping Down
September 25, 2014


[Nailed it and I have nothing else to add other than Christmas came early. -B]

 

Surprise, Feds making it up as they go along!

So some somewhere got his panties in a bunch.  even more entertainingly the feds are claiming they have the right and authority to ban it and regulate it.

There are so many things I can comment about that piece. Such as “lets run to the airport and tell some pilots people are shooting skyward.” Tell me, what the hell is trap and skeet shooting, there’s a reason they use shotguns in the sport not rifles.

Moving forward we have the feds claiming their aircraft and creates a safety hazard while then having the following Charlie Foxtrot:

But the question here is not why the FAA considers hand-sized drones to be aircraft, regardless of their size or the altitude at which they’re operated.  But why it can’t decide that an 1100 pound passenger-carrying Flying Hovercraft that looks like an aircraft – wings and all – and can fly at speeds of 70 miles per hour (and more) and at altitudes of 20 feet to more than 50 feet in the air, over water or land, is also an aircraft.  These flying machines, called WIG craft or wing in ground effect craft, fly on the air cushion created by aerodynamic lift due to the ground effect between the craft and the surface, the same as occurs between any aircraft and the ground on landing.  

Not to mention the complete destruction of the hobbyist activity of RC aircraft by reclassifying everything as a drone. Know why the FAA is now going that route to attack the activity? Because they keep losing their arguments on why they have the power.

So here’s a set of rhetorical questions:

  • If our elected officials are not held accountable to the same laws and regulations they create over us, why should anyone comply or care?
  • If regulatory agencies are constantly modifying and changing the rules to grow their power, why should anyone comply or care about them any more?
  • If regulatory agencies are using their power to stop activities which harm no one but the people in charge disagree with for political reasons, why should anyone comply or care?

America is a Republic, and what we’re seeing is the destruction of law through bureaucratic fiat. Me thinks I need to build a couple just for lunch time destruction during Boomershoot. Hey if it’s my own personal property, !@#$ off! There isn’t any commercial aspect involved.

Barron why do you want to shoot at drones?
Because !@#$ YOU!!! That’s WHY!

**Seriously I had no interest in doing such a thing until I saw they’re trying to stop it. Now it’s like owning a 100 round drum magazine that freezes after firing 10 rounds. I need one just because you said I can’t have one!

Hat tip “The short lady with the grey hair” (Otherwise known as my mom.)

Puritan: Someone that is afraid someone, somewhere is having fun.