Make the Drug Warriors Pay
Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.
Wierd failure mode on my Marlin 444P yesterday afternoon. I opened the lever to eject a case and load a new cartridge, and the lever got stuck out with the fresh cartridge partially pushed out of the magazine tube into the receiver. Nothing would budge until I removed the screw that holds the lever. It appears to work on reassembly, though I haven't fired it yet. Strange.
Thomas L. Knapp at Strike the Root - The One-Sided War - a former drug warrior recommends that we start fighting on our side of the drug war. No, he isn't recommending that you go out and shoot a cop, though I doubt he would shed a tear if you did, but there are plenty of other ways to let the drug warriors know that you don't want their kind in your neighborhood. [smith2004]
See that DARE car rolling down the street? The one with the sticker that says "confiscated from a drug dealer?" Stop at the next phone, dial 911 and report a stolen vehicle.
Do you own a business? Does your sign say that you reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason? Being a drug warrior is a reason. Send 'em packing. And tell 'em why.
Make being a drug warrior uncomfortable. Be condescending. Make it clear to that police officer that you're his social superior and don't want to be seen talking with him. Drug warriors should carry the same social stigma as child molesters.
The drug war will end when the drug warriors can't get served in decent restaurants or spend the night in decent hotels. The drug war will end when the drug warriors' children come home and complain that the neighbors' kids won't play with them.
Charley Reese - U.S. Blocks Inspections - The U.S. blocked adding inspections to the international Biological Weapons Convention. Their reason quoted below. So, by the administration's own admission, inspections are useless to determine if a country is developing biological weapons. [grabbe]
Formal arms-control inspections to determine biological weapons activities could not be effective because the components can be found in the everyday environment and can simultaneously have legitimate and illegitimate uses. "They are," the United States continued, "used for many peaceful purposes, such as routine studies against disease, the creation of vaccines and the study of defensive measures against a biological attack. Detecting violations is nearly impossible. Proving a violation is impossible."
Cryptome - John Gilmore vs. John Ashcroft, et al - "Plaintiff's Consolidated Opposition to Defendants' Motions to Dismiss". As you may remember, Mr. Gilmore is suing the government to allow him to fly without showing ID. The "Preliminary Statement" is worth reading. [grabbe]
"Free movement by the citizen is of course as dangerous to a tyrant as free expression of ideas or the right of assembly and it is therefore controlled in most countries in the interests of security. That is why riding boxcars carries extreme penalties in Communist lands. That is why the ticketing of people and the use of identification papers are routine matters under totalitarian regimes, yet abhorrent in the United States." Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500, 519 (1964) (Douglas, J, concurring).
The facts of this case are deceptively simple. Plaintiff John Gilmore, a U.S. citizen, was not allowed to board commercial aircraft at two airports because he refused to show identification ("ID") and refused to consent to a more intense security screening based on his refusal to show ID. He wishes to travel anonymously. Since then, he has not attempted any domestic travel by air, water, train, or intercity bus, because of the posted ID requirements, the above experience, and a previous experience being arrested at the San Francisco airport for refusing to show ID.
At the heart of this case lie two complex questions: (1) Are domestic travelers presently required by law to show identification papers upon demand? And, if so, (2) Is that requirement constitutional?
U.S. Bombing Watch: When was the last time the U.S. Bombed Iraq? - a compendium of news stories reporting U.S. bombings of Iraq, sorted by decreasing date. I count 56 events in 2002. 26 of them were since September first. That's once every three days for the last two and a half months, boys and girls. [sketchpad]
Genesis World Energy Press Release - Scientific Breakthrough Liberates Energy Users from Fossil Fuel Dependence: Technology breakthrough harnesses energy from the molecular structure of water - They claim to be able to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using less energy than is generated by recombining them. They're licensing their "Genesis" machine, which they claim produces 30 kilowatts of energy a day when plugged into the wall and a water supply. Too good to be true, so it probably isn't. Jerry Pournelle's comments and links to articles are here. Will move here next week. [pournelle]
Sun - Jackpot Project Targets Tools - a team at Sun Labs are investigating extensions to their NetBeans™ IDE to make programming easier. [wes]
