No, I Think You Missed The Point…

“If you think a control-system attack that takes down a utility even for a few hours is not serious, just look at what is happening now that Mother Nature has taken out those utilities,” Napolitano said at a Washington Post cybersecurity event, noting the effects in some cases can be “life threatening.”

While yes, cybersecurity should be taken seriously, Sandy is not an example of how dangerous a cyber attack could be.

What do I mean I hear you cry?  Sandy is a prime example of what someone could do to physically interrupt the power system.  While you could find a way to get a breaker to open or close unintentionally, the easier method of disrupting utilities is to find critical points and physically knock them out.

First, let me do a quick explanation of what’s going on in the NYC area.  Most power distribution in the NYC area is below ground.  This makes it below sea level.  This is one of the reasons they shut down many areas early, in an effort to protect equipment so that it can return to service more quickly.  Still, that equipment has to be cleaned, transformers for example have to be washed, insulation checked, and refilled with cooling oil.  This takes time, though much less time than having to fly in a replacement transformer, removing the old one, and installing and commissioning the new one.

So what we have is a bunch of distribution points that were/are full of water, need to be drained, the equipment cleaned, checked, maintained, and replaced possibly in some instances.  All of this must be done before re-energizing that circuit.

So why did I take the time to explain all that?  Well because it illustrates that if done properly, a physical attack, can easily do more damage than any cyber attack, and even more than that you have decreased the potential recovery time.  But that’s not all.  Say you execute an attack on physical infrastructure and take out 2 transmission level transformers on a main artery.

You have now done triple digit damage in the millions if not more.  Plus it will take 2-3 years, at a minimum, to replace the transformers.  Any stock they have for those transformers is in very limited supply.  This means if you hit a couple of places at once, you could very well permanently cripple the ability for a region to get the power necessary to operate.

Seriously, think about this, cyber-security to protect assets worth millions of dollars and provide hundreds of millions in revenue are going to be left unguarded by their owners and operators?  Get real.  The bigger and harder problem is physical security.  How do you stop someone from running a truck into a transmission tower?

Why do I bring all this up?  Because our overlords often start screaming about “necessity” in an effort to create new regulations and requirements which honestly are unnecessary.  They’re unnecessary because do you think a utility company doesn’t want to protect its equipment?  For every minute a transmission line is down they’re loosing millions of dollars in lost revenue.

We’ve seen these cries before and yet again it is to drum up “FUD” among people who don’t really understand how the system works.  FUD is how you make a bunch of people clamor to do something when nothing really needs to be done.  That’s what Janet’s doing with her latest ramblings.

This One’s for Sean…

So, I kind of batted at Joan in my Priceless video but it wasn’t really a good solid hit.  It was more of just a fun video.  Joe took a good solid swing here which I felt was on the right track but the more I thought about it, more needed to be done.  I had piles of video of pumpkins blowing up between 2010 and 2012.

Sean posted a comment when Joe did his first post on Joan’s PSH stating we should have a self contained video that explained her break down and put everything in one easy to see spot.  Well I did just that.  Now while overall this really didn’t need to be made, it was more practice and work with the Adobe tools.  The learning curve is steep but doing projects, no matter how pointless is how you get over them.

So this one’s for Joan!

Besides, it’s quite fitting since it’s Halloween with the pumpkins and all.

Interesting Map

So I stumbled across this from Kiro TV in Seattle today.

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That is the distribution of CPL licenses by zip code.  The deeper the red, the more self reliant the community.  What I found interesting is major urban area’s had a much lower rate, with Seattle having a rate as low as 1%.  What is most telling about that though is that when you get into the rural areas there is a realization you cannot depend on the police.  I’m not making that up either:

“People understand it might take a while for the sheriff to get to Lyman,” Hills insisted.

Mayor Debbie Heinzman also runs the local tavern. She agrees that “everybody has guns” in Lyman to protect themselves and their property.

Next I’d like to see a map that overlays property and violent crime rates by zip code.  Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but I think it would still be an interesting thing to see.  Doubly so since I’m sure it would counter the “more guns equals more crime” myth as well as the “concealed carry means blood in the streets” myth.

I’m reasonably sure this would be the case because:

KIRO 7 Investigators calculated only 2.8 percent of Seattle residents, overall, have sought the right to carry.

In the six zip codes to the east of I-5 (the International District to Capitol Hill, to north of the UW) the number is even lower — just 1.6 percent.

I lived in Seattle for 2 years in the U-District and there wasn’t really a day that went by that I didn’t hear about either violent crime or property crime.  There is an anomaly in that theory as Kent, which is not exactly the nicest part of the area, has a carry rate equal to where I live.  Even worse is Tacoma, which high urban area also has a much higher carry rate than the state average.

So when you pull all that in, it’s like the gun is merely a tool and what really matters are the people carrying it and what their intent is.

Continuing on My Series About the Food Chain

So I saw this today and wanted to make a quote of the day but just couldn’t figure out how.  The stupid is so heavy it hurts.

An Irvine resident is requesting that the city install a sign to memorialize the hundreds of fish killed in a traffic crash in early October as they were being taken to Irvine Ranch Market.

In the letter, Dina Kourda, on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, asks the city’s street maintenance superintendent to place the sign at the site of the crash on Walnut and Yale avenues.

I think my favorite though was this quote from the boy genius himself:

“Research tells us that fish use tools, tell time, sing, and have impressive long-term memories and complex social structures, yet fish used for food are routinely crushed, impaled, cut open, and gutted, all while still conscious. Sparing them from being tossed from a speeding truck and slowly dying from injuries and suffocation seems the least that we can do,” the letter continued.

Tell me, what hands do the fish use to pick up their “tools”?  They were food there sport and while you may be well intentioned, the fact is, death is a part of life and humans are omnivores.  That’s right, we eat both plants and animals.  You do realize a plant is a living organism too right?  It is the behavior of people like you who have created an environment where things like this occur.  Today I got a new one to add to the list.

Berlin authorities say they shot and killed a 120 kilogram (265-pound) wild boar after it attacked and injured four people including a police officer in a residential neighborhood.

I’m sure that Mr. Kourda weeps for the wild boar, that could have easily killed someone, and I’m sure he wishes that they erect a sign to remember the boar time immemorial.  This is what happens when animals stop viewing you as a predator.  We, as a species, have progressed to the point where many just go to the store and pick up food.  Many, like Mr. Kourda feel that it is no longer necessary to kill animals for food.

Well, here’s a random though, that pile of grain you eat because it’s not from the back of an animal?  How many mice were killed to prevent them from eating it so it can be on your table?  Say you avoid producers and go “organic” which doesn’t use pesticide or kill the little vermin, the reason for the higher costs, which not everyone can afford, is because the lower crop yield due to the pests.

Tell me, what about mouse infestations in your house?  See I live on the edge of town surrounded by farm fields.  The little bastards have chewed their way into my crawlspace and now into my house.  Would you like to put up memorials for all the mice I’ve had to kill Mr. Kourda?  They bring with them disease and damage to property.  Hire an exterminator I hear you say?

Well I’ve done exactly that, and they poison the little bastards so that people like you can think that they’ve just ran off to live somewhere else.  That way you don’t their handy work, or in this case my handy work.

We have been steadily removing ourselves as being a predator in the pool of animals.  Many, like Mr. Kourda would like to forcefully prevent those who still act predatory to stop.  The thing is, just because we stop being predatory, doesn’t mean other animals won’t view us as prey.

If you would like to voultarily vacate your position at the top of the food chain, that’s your choice.  Me, I’m going to stay right here at the top and keep my family and my self free from disease and vermin while keeping them healthy and well fed.

Priceless…

So last weekend Joe came out and did a private party for Barb L. and her son.  This had been planned for at least a couple of weeks earlier and since it was October we figured we’d do a pumpkin shoot.

The last two we actually did after the elections for one reason or another that’s just how it worked out.  The upshot was that’s when pumpkins end up being dirt cheap since it’s after Halloween.  Well I swung by the store the Friday before and picked up over 300lbs of pumpkins. The trick is to buy pumpkins larger than their scales.

Now why would I discuss our plans about pumpkins… Well it seems that Joan Peterson (link safe), went into full PSH(link unsafe) over a video from Hickok45Joe promptly stated that he was in agreement with Joan because there’s a better way to carve pumpkins, you just use the gun as the detonator!  So without further ado, here’s a new commercial I did…

Some things are absolutely priceless.  While certainly sending Joan over the edge to spout quotes like:

So wouldn’t it be great if families got together in their neighborhoods and carved pumpkins with handguns?

Or even better, Evil Black Rifles™ like we used here.  But you know what’s even more priceless, something her and her ilk can never recreate.  Go back and look at the smile on that kids face at the end of the video.

Or this smile:

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Or this one:

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And that was despite being soaked to the bone and freezing cold.  But wait, there’s more!

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Honestly I could keep on going with picture after picture and video after video of the grins Boomerite have created.  But since it’s Boomerite, that means a firearm has to be involved too!

We all know why Joan says these things, she’s a delusional Puritan who thinks the world revolves around her and her feelings.  I’m sure she would object to my method of celebrating the 4th of July as well.  (Not to mention this video has yet another grin and expression of happiness!).

The crux of Joan’s rant was that bullets go through stuff, evidently most bullets contain PFM that allows them to penetrate everything and keep going forever.  You see evidently, according to her, the bullets Hickok used after leaving the pumpkin were blood seekers and sought out his neighbors and killed them.  Evidently somehow the bullets can just go straight through the berm and then fly until they find a person.

Now she does use a couple of examples of people who violated the 4 rules and tries to use that as justification for disarming everyone.  First is this quote from Tam:

I don’t care if every other gun owner on the planet went out and murdered somebody last night. I didn’t. So piss off.

Second is that she’s in a world of denial, her side lost, and her only grasps for relevancy are when people break existing law and then she claims just one piece of paper would have stopped evil or stupid.  She’s wanting to prohibit exercise of this right by everyone for the actions of a few.

Honestly the thing I think she hates most about that video, is she knows there is no way for her side to compete with the joy that shooting pumpkins brings.  So I will bring that joy to someone new every chance I get.

*Now while I was actually going to spoof Mastercard to begin with, Joan’s PSH made finding a good punchline that much easier.

On today’s mass shooting…

As usual twitter erupted into a bunch of people yelling and screaming for gun control, because well that’s what you do instead of nothing.

I sat and patiently waited until I could find the name of the shooter, with held for obvious reasons.  What is significant though is the following:

Authorities said they believed the shooting was related to a domestic dispute. The man they identified as the suspect, *redacted*, 45, of Brown Deer, had a restraining order against him.

So lets see here, restraining order and a serious domestic dispute.  Hmm, there’s some amendment I remember that says those with Protective Restraining Orders against them cannot have firearms. What is it called again, oh yeah the Lautenberg Amendment.

The act bans shipment, transport, ownership and use of guns or ammunition by individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, or who are under a restraining (protection) order for domestic abuse in all 50 states. The act also makes it unlawful to knowingly sell or give a firearm or ammunition to such persons.

So what’s the score on this one.  Gun control didn’t stop this murderer set on his mission.  It could have very well prevented people from defending themselves depending on the policies of the spa and mall.  It could have also prevented the victim from effectively seeking arms from the waiting period.  Ultimately though we won’t know the true effect of either of those items.

What is know, for a fact, that this man was a prohibited person, and as oh so often occurs, gun control failed.  Also of worthy note:

After the shooting, police said an improvised explosive device was found at the spa and a bomb squad is investigating, but they did not indicate whether the suspect ever tried to set the device off.

Personally I prefer these nut bags go use firearms.  There is a decent chance of survival and overall they are much less effective than explosives or fire.  The bottom line is all the clamoring for gun control is yet another example of the failure of people to comprehend how to properly cope with tragedy.

Gun control only does one thing really well.  It ensures that the law-abiding victims are disarmed so the criminals can have their way without fear of failure.

*I will not aid in giving this monster his 15 minutes of fame.

Quote of the Day – A Girl and Her Gun(10/11/2012)

To be honest I don’t give a flying flip about what I should be able to do or what is fair or any false ideal of not giving the bad guy power. I really only care about what I can do to create a world where I have the best possible chance of A. Avoiding a bad guy situation and B. Surviving it should that not be possible.

(Emphasis Mine) A Girl and Her Gun – Right In Your Own Backyard
October 11, 2012


[That folks is exactly what it is we’re fighting for.  Our opponents often try to twist the truth, as if some how everyone is going to be forced to be given a gun.  In reality we want only the choice of the tools at our disposal for option A and B.

While some would say that carrying a firearm doesn’t fall into the option A realm, I beg to differ.  There are many incidents where there isn’t even a shot fired to end the encounter.  My parents both had experiences where it the threat was enough to unconceal.   At the immediate presence of the firearm, the aggressors immediately altered their tune.  Not to mention incidents like this.

The fact is carrying a firearm is a choice, it’s a choice that the anti-rights cultists wish we didn’t have.  They would rather we live in their world of fear and dependence than stand up independent and strong.  That is the exact difference between the pro-rights and anti-rights communities.

Next time someone says you shouldn’t be carrying a gun, ask them, “Why do you want to force people into being a victim?  Do you like criminals? Why are you forcing your choices on others?” We know how the attitudes of the cultists make me feel, especially when I hear about people who were made to be a victim in criminal protection zones.  They may not have chosen to carry, but ultimately they had that choice made for them anyway, and it makes me very angry.

Interestingly though, as angry as I get, unlike our opponents, I don’t get violent or wish violence upon others. -B]

Concealed Carry on Campus

Both the University of Idaho and Washington State University forbid concealed carry on campus.  Luckily the ban at WSU doesn’t have any teeth in that all they can do is ask you to leave at which point if you refuse you’ll be trespassed.  Students and faculty though can face administrative punishment however.  I do not remember the exact details regarding carry at the University of Idaho.

I bring this up because so often I hear the following phrase, “Why would you need a gun on campus?”  Well maybe you live in the dorms or university housing.  Maybe you have a night class and will have to walk across campus in the dark.  Ultimately though people seem to think that bad things never happen on campus.  Reality always has a habit of showing up though.

Moscow Police arrested a man Sunday for the alleged rape of a University of Idaho student on the Moscow campus.

Nothing says stop faster than a hunk of lead flying at 900 fps.  Bad things happen everywhere, even college campuses.  Even more than that, it isn’t always the random person you don’t know.

“The victim knew the suspect from working with him in Twin Falls at a restaurant, so they were acquainted, but on a friendship level only,” said Chief of Police David Duke.

It’s best that we all remember these things can and do happen.  If you can, support Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, the fight is a significant and real one.  I wore an empty holster on to campus on more than one occasion specifically in support.  The one debate that I saw occur on campus ended squarely in favor for campus carry.

The thing is, at least with WSU, the board of regents will not move to change the administrative code and the only way you can bring about a legal challenge is if they exercise the code against you.  For this reason, many of my friends followed the rule of better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.  Not everyone is so willing to do that though.  Then again, when the building you work in has been attacked by ALF, your desire to survive should they return usually wins.

Though the school would prefer you to be disarmed to be easy prey.  It’s not like it’s their life that’s on the line though.  It’s like the government and politicians only care about criminals, not the law-abiding.