Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 by Claire | 7 Comments »
Tsk, tsk. As usual I’m behind in noticing that one of my print articles has gone online. This time it’s “Preparedness Basics” from the current (June 2013) issue of S.W.A.T. magazine.
I’ve been doing a series of preparedness-related articles for them. And they’ve been doing some other excellent preparedness articles covering everything from canning meat to vehicle survival kits. Although cool! guns! cool! gear! smart! tactics! is still their focus, I love they way they’re returning to their survivalist roots.
My current article is a checklist of fundamental preparedness needs. Take the challenge and see how ready you are.
If I’d have known this one was going to go online, I’d have made it more interactive. But what the heck. Check marks. It’s the old-fashioned way.
Posted in Preparedness | 7 Comments »
Sunday, May 12th, 2013 by Claire | 5 Comments »
David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” From a unique perspective. Performed by an actual astronaut in actual outer space.
Source for those who can’t see the embed.
Posted in Books and Movies, Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »
Friday, May 10th, 2013 by Claire | 22 Comments »
Back in the 1990s, the Clinton administration tried to snuff out PGP using the very same obscure regulation it’s wielding against Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed now.
Yes, PGP was (and IIRC, still is) a “munition.” The regs didn’t change; the fedgov just knew that was a battle it was going to lose so it backed off. Encryption is everywhere and Phil Zimmerman is a free man. But nothing’s new under the sun reeking pall of Mordor.
Now a new generation of regulators — and a new anti-gun president who has vowed to take covert action against firearms if he can’t get his way in the legislature (whimper, whine) — wants to use absurdly complicated ITAR once again to stop the unstoppable.
Question: What’s the outcome going to be in the case of Furiously Frustrated Fedgov vs Cody Wilson?
There are lots of aspects to consider here. Not only what will happen to Wilson and DefCad. Not just what will happen to the banned “blueprints” (we already know that).
But aspects like: Will the feds back off the their King Canute routine? Or will they end up drowning in this rising tide? Will the ATF get into the act? The FBI? Will there be some attempt to control/surveil 3D printers (e.g. force them to keep records for the feddies, as photocopiers do now)? Will the tech community wield its power — or will the big tech voices keep mum because this is “a gun-culture thing”? What kind of laws will be proposed or passed? Will people get that you can’t stop this any more than the Church could stop Gutenberg’s outrageous information diseminator? Will they laugh at the folly of the pols and bureaucrats? Or will the media buffalo them into hysterical fear? Even if they buffalo and legislate their little hearts out for a decade, where do technology, freedom, and the best sort of Bad Attitude take us from here?
Envision a scenario, envision the future …
Posted in Computers, Guns and Gun Rights | 22 Comments »
Thursday, May 9th, 2013 by Claire | 26 Comments »
State Department demands Defense Distributed take down files. From Forbes:
On Thursday, Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson received a letter from the State Department Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance demanding that he take down the online blueprints for the 3D-printable “Liberator” handgun that his group released Monday, along with nine other 3D-printable firearms components hosted on the group’s website Defcad.org. The government says it wants to review the files for compliance with arms export control laws known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. By uploading the weapons files to the Internet and allowing them to be downloaded abroad, the letter implies Wilson’s high-tech gun group may have violated those export controls.
Love the way they just order files taken down because of a bunch of “may haves” and “wants to reviews.”
The signal has already been beamed, people. Already been beamed.
http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8449468/Liberator_-_First_3D_Printable_Gun
If you have any of the banned files, Mike Vanderboegh would like to have them to … continue enhancing the signal. UPDATE: After just a few hours, Mike got copies of all the banned files — “20 times over.”
Yeah, that signal ain’t gonna be jammed …
UPDATE 2: Several sources that were publicly posting Liberator (and other DefCad gun-related) files have taken them down in the last 24 hours. “Advice of lawyers” and all that. Robb Allen still has The Liberator. I presume Sipsey Street will soon have that and all the other banned files. People more techie than me (e.g. Brad at WendyMcElroy.com) are working to ensure that files being distributed are the unaltered, verifiable real deal.
(Tip o’ hat to JB.)
Posted in Government, Guns and Gun Rights | 26 Comments »
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 by Claire | 5 Comments »
Her brother blew himself away with a shotgun on this date. Her anti-gun “friend” wants her to suffer — and hate the gun. She suffers — but knows better than to blame an inanimate object.
Posted in Guns and Gun Rights | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 by Claire | 4 Comments »
Or maybe I don’t. But one of the most vocal Sandy Hook gun controllers has apparently been writing bad checks all over town.
It’s awful that Neil Heslin lost his son so tragically. But it’s equally awful that he wants to use that to demolish the rights and safety of millions of good people.
He should clean his own house before he tries to make criminals out of the rest of us.
—–
ADDED: Turns out that writing bad checks is merely one little blip in a long pattern of criminality for Mr. Heslin. Whotta rap sheet this fella has!
Posted in Guns and Gun Rights | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 by Claire | 14 Comments »
Secret to a long life.
Heck, even if you “only” live to be 95 instead of 105, you’ll still probably enjoy life more.
The health nannies are gonna hate this one.
Posted in Health | 14 Comments »
