House of Peace Invaded by Gummint Goons
So-cial-ism's here a-gain!
The welfare state can cheer again!
So let's stick it in their ear again!
Socialism's here again!
# The Specious Report - Terror Thread Detected; Authorities Offer Swift Action - satirical commentary on the timeliness of the information leading to the latest orange alert from Amerika's Gestapo. Hehe. [root]
# Geek with a .45 - An Anti-Climactic Conclusion To A Long Story - the geek gets his Pennsylvania concealed weapons permit. Far out! [geekwitha.45]
# AP via CNN - Two arrested in missile sting operation - This was all over the mainstream news yesterday, meaning that I usually wouldn't cover it, but since it was in my back yard... The feds claim that the Imam and one of the founders of the Masjid As-Salaam mosque, in downtown Albany, New York, offered to help launder money for a government agent posing as a terrorist as part of a "conspiracy" to purchase a shoulder-fired missile. Sounds to me like the only criminals in this case are the government agents. Hang them for kidnapping. I'm tempted to don my kufi and show up for Friday noon-time prayers, as a gesture of solidarity, but I don't know anyone there, so I'd probably feel out of place. The Mosque's home page (linked above), has been changed to the following:
PRESS RELEASEThe mosque's original home page is available at archive.org.
Muslims Concerned about FBI Night Raid and Recent Arrests
Thursday, August 5, 2004 9:52 am
Masjid as-Salam: No contradiction between ensuring safety and the presumption of innocence
(Albany, New York . 8/5/2004) . Masjid as-Salam (House of Peace) today expressed concern regarding a raid carried out by the FBI Wednesday night. The raid took place in the early hours and forced worshippers to hold their daily prayers on a nearby sidewalk.
Three men were arrested separately from their homes apparently in connection to the raid.
In a statement released today, Masjid as-Salam president, writes:
Albany Muslims wish to declare that they are against any and all forms of terrorism. They neither support, nor condone any form of violence against innocent people.
We are concerned about the backlash and hate-crimes that result from the stereotyping of Muslims. Muslims constitute about seven million in the United States. We are a peace-loving, law-abiding people. The actions of a few individuals should not reflect upon our mosque or religion.
Islam respects the sacredness of life and shares the belief in one God and the Hereafter with other Abrahamic traditions.
We further call on media professionals to exercise restraint and not draw premature conclusions in this case..
-END-
# Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership - What Happened in Oshkosh? And Why Should Gun Owners Care? - good summary of the unwarranted police raid of a neighborhood in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I hope that if police similarly showed up at my house, I would meet them with my shotgun in hand. Through the closed door, I would ask if they had a warrant. If they did not, I would tell them to go away. If they came in anyway, I would stop at least one of them, with extreme prejudice. But I, too, might chicken out when faced with overwhelming force. [jpfo]
Why did the police chief authorize random gun seizures (if he did)? Why did officers conduct them? We need to understand the mentality behind such "all guns are bad, all people are guilty" attitudes. Remember, this is the attitude of men and women _who claim to be our protectors. Yet their hatred and suspicion of us runs deep -- and all too often, runs uncontrolled.
We strongly suggest that you read a small, slender book called Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning (available at Amazon.com, among other places). This is the story of how a group of perfectly ordinary middle-aged German men, too old for the army, carried out a horrific mass slaughter of innocents ... simply because. They did it because they were asked (not ordered) to. They did it because they didn't want to let down their fellow police officers. They did it because they, like so many American police officers today put their security or their pension above their morality. A few probably even did it because they enjoyed it. If you want to see the mentality that's increasingly overtaking American police, read this book.
If citizens won't put limits on police, who will? The police will never police themselves. They'll never limit their own desire for more power, more authority, more control, more obedience.
Ask yourself: Am I going to cooperate with government, get stepped on, then complain afterward?
We believe -- we hope -- that the average JPFO member would know better than to consent to a random, warrantless search. But we also despair. We've seen well-informed people bend under the frightening force of the police. And we have to face the fact that the vast majority of Americans choose not to be informed. They choose to close their eyes to the incipient police state around them. They choose to go along to get along, rather than stand on their own knowledge and convictions.
# Declan McCullagh and Ben Charny at News.com - Feds back wiretap rules for Internet - it appears that anyone who offers a "managed" phone service will have to allow the pigs to tap it. It also appears that Skype and other peer-to-peer Voice over IP systems, are, for now, not covered. [picks]
The FCC's five commissioners agreed that 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, clearly covers broadband and "managed" VoIP services.
Still, the FCC did not grant the police agencies' request to extend CALEA to cover instant messaging and VoIP programs that are not "managed"--a reference to peer-to-peer programs like the original version of Skype and Pulver.com's Free World Dialup, which do not use the public telephone network.
The commission "tentatively concludes that non-managed, or disintermediated, VoIP and instant messaging are not subject to CALEA, and that it is unnecessary to identify future services and entities subject to CALEA," Powell said.
# Unknown News - Lapel Pins (Buttons) - "Regime Change, November 2, 2004" and "Liberty and justice for all (no exceptions)", $2.00 apiece or $3.50 for two, postpaid.
# Lookout is a lighting-fast search facility for Microsoft Outlook. I'm required to use Outlook at work, so I'm mighty glad to finally have a quick search facility. Microsoft recently acquired them. Hope they build it in to Outlook instead of killing the idea. It indexed my mail very quickly and works well. Bravo! It requires Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1, which it will install automatically if not found. Lookout itself is only 859K, but the .NET installer is about 24 megs, so you'll need a fast internet connection or a lot of time to get it. [joel]
