I support the Buffett Rule because I believe the illusion of fairness is better then actual fairness in the tax code. The Democrats have admitted that the Buffet Rule would not make the tinniest dent in the federal budget deficit. But the point is rich people should pay. They never pay enough or else they wouldn’t be rich any more. I also firmly believe that the distraction of the Buffett Rule will help re-elect President Obama so we can run the country into the ground at as fast a rate as possible. Mitt Romney and the right wing extremists support running the country into the ground at a moderate rate which is just not fast enough. Also, climate change, race dialog, and something about occupy.

Last month it became apparent that not all VPN providers live up to their marketing after an alleged member of Lulzsec was tracked down after using a supposedly anonymous service from HideMyAss. We wanted to know which VPN providers take privacy extremely seriously so we asked many of the leading providers two very straightforward questions. Their responses will be of interest to anyone concerned with anonymity issues.

via TorrentFreak.

Since I have students though, let me make sure everyone understands. You are not a cop. It is not your job to arrest people. It is not your job to chase someone down who done you wrong. If the guy is fleeing, then he is not an immediate threat and you can’t shoot him. Maybe none of that applies to the Florida situation, but CCW holders should be clear: Protect your life. If your life is not in danger or your body at risk of serious harm, you can’t use deadly force.

The U.S. intelligence community will be able to store information about Americans with no ties to terrorism for up to five years under new Obama administration guidelines.

Until now, the National Counterterrorism Center had to destroy immediately information about Americans that already was stored in other government databases when there were no clear ties to terrorism.

Giving the NCTC expanded record-retention authority had been urged by members of Congress, who said the intelligence community did not connect strands of intelligence held by multiple agencies leading up to a failed bombing attempt on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009.

“Following the failed terrorist attack in December 2009, representatives of the counterterrorism community concluded it is vital for NCTC to be provided with a variety of datasets from various agencies that contain terrorism information,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement late Thursday. “The ability to search against these datasets for up to five years on a continuing basis as these updated guidelines permit will enable NCTC to accomplish its mission more practically and effectively.”

via Fox News.

For your edification: Panopticon.

a Virginia middle school politics class today, in which an 8th grade teacher assigned students to do opposition research on the four Republican presidential candidates. The students’ research included looking into the backgrounds of the GOP candidates and finding weaknesses in their positions.

Now, this kind of research wouldn’t be out of the norm for a typical politics class if it weren’t for the teacher requiring the students submit their findings to the Obama campaign!

via Fox News Insider.

That eight graders could be providing strategic analysis for the White House actually explains quite a lot. But if true, I’d expect there to be more focus on the Free Ice Creme for Tonsillectomies health insurance mandate. Also, more references to boobies.

“Hollywood, this is Maverick. We are low on Gatorade and target pasters. I say again, we are low on Gatorade and target pasters. Over.”

via View From The Porch.

“After all, addiction is not a moral failing on the part of the individual — science shows that drug addiction is a disease of the brain that can be prevented and treated.”

“All of us know someone who suffers from a substance use disorder — we are not at war with our own people.”

“We can address these two problems together and, in doing so, ensure that Americans are able to get treatment for chronic pain without falling victim to the disease of addiction.”

A disease, substance use disorder, victims of the disease of addiction. These are the words our government uses to describe those who abuse drugs. Now how do we justify the 1,725,387 people in prison on drug offenses?

In the movie, As Good As It Gets, Marvin Udall is an obsessive-compulsive who refuses to take his medication. In one scene he bursts into his therapists office:

Melvin Udall: *Help!*
Dr. Green: If you want to see me, you will not do this. You will make an appointment.
Melvin Udall: Dr. Green, how can you diagnose someone as an obsessive compulsive disorder, and then act like I have some choice about barging in here?

The diagnosis is that drug users are victims of disease, so how can the government justify putting them in prison? We don’t put people who get sick in prison; apparently sick people have a right to medical care. It makes as much sense as putting people who owe money in prison. I happen to believe that there is a third category, people who recreationally uses drugs who are not addicted (I myself am a huge fan of the drug alcohol and administer weekly doses as needed). But the words of Mr. Kerlikowske speak of victims of the disease of addiction and we put those victims in jail.

1.7 million people in jail. We are at war with our own people.

Authorities said a man who identified himself as the woman’s grandson called police at 8:12 p.m. to report that a burglary was in progress at the house, Officer Leland Ashley said. Three responding officers arrived four minutes later and entered the home through the back door, which showed signs of forced entry, he said.

As they entered, they heard the woman pleading for help and asking not to be hurt and saw a man hovering over her, Ashley said.

The officers ordered him to stop, and when he didn’t obey their commands, one officer shot him, Ashley said. He died at the scene.

via Tulsa World.

Self-defense experts, and amatures like me, like to talk about how the police won’t be there to save you and how you need to take responsibility for yourself. Its easy to find countless stories of the police arriving in time to take pictures, write reports, and start the manhunt for the killers. I’ve linked to a bunch here.

There are also lots of stories where the police get there in time, but wait outside until the water fowl alignment is complete and bad things happen inside.

In this case, the police were called, arrived in a reasonable time, they entered the house right away and shot the bad guy before he could kill the woman inside. That, in my humble opinion, is a story with a happy ending and it was brought to you by the Tulsa Police Department. I spend a lot of time bitching about cops here, but when they get it right, that deserves some acknowledgement too. Great work guys (or girls)!

Today, Senators John Thune R-SD and David Vitter R-LA introduced legislation to recognize national reciprocity for gun owners who can legally carry concealed firearms in the state where they reside.

via Gun Owners Of America.

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