Surfing the net

Two gangs of Detroit teens started a gunfight over who makes the best Kool-aid last week. Not kiddin'. That's just how gangsters roll. You can be shot any time over anything there. Seriously. [Huffington Post/Detroit News]

Surfin' the net!

Driver's licenses are not about driving a motor vehicle on public roads. That hasn't been the case for a while now. Driver's licenses nowadays are actually a De facto  national ID card. Some people understand this, but sadly most people do not. [Hooligan Libertarian]

Putting a bio-electronic "bar code" into each and every human being on Earth would make "society more organized", and therefore (presumably) "better" says some unknown sci-fi writer. Whatever. The statist bureaucrats can't even make the trains run on time let alone regulate human society. And even if they could I'd still be against it. We're not cattle. [New York Daily News] [Hat-tip to Infowars.com]


Popular Science has this story about the Pentagon's latest intrusion/intel gathering technology which is currently being field-tested in Afghanistan. Little golf ball-sized sensor devices that transmit data for up to two years. The snoops sure could have fun with that technology. Scatter them around and send an armed UAV drone to check any "suspicious activity". Scary.

DC Comics' super-hero Green Lantern is gay.  North Star is too, if you care. [io9]

"How Chemistry Stymies Attempts To Regulate Synthetic Drugs" [Slashdot.org/]
Make a molecule illegal and amateur chemists will build an analog to it. Every time you try and make something "fool-proof" nature evolves a better fool. Just sayin'. 

If you spy on the "governance class" it is a felony. Now, if they spy on you, well then it's: "Got something to hide citizen?" [Ann Arbor.com]

Our new enemy: The UAV (spy drones)

The under $300 UAV

Alex Jones at InfoWars has started a new sport; shooting down UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles AKA "drones") for target practice. Expensive fun too considering what drones cost but I take Jones' point. I don't want those fucking things flying over or around my house either. However a better way to take them down (besides the 12 gauge 00 buckshot Jones used in the vid)  needs to be developed. Those .33 caliber lead balls have got to come down somewhere after all and which is a real problem especially if you live in a city or suburban neighborhood. Maybe a DIY type of EMP weapon or some anti-aircraft "chaff" technology can be developed perhaps?

In any event it is probably prudent to start thinking about how to cheaply and permanently ground those things now, before the feds and local LEO types start wide scale deployment of these aerial snoopers. And look for non-government sorts like the paparazzi, bill collectors, lawyers, political operatives, pissed-off ex-spouses, unscrupulous business rivals, miscellaneous creepy weirdos, and other low-lifes to try their  hand at UAV spying as well.

Silly boondoggle or law enforcement theatre? Does it matter?

InfoWars and the AP are reporting that East Orange, NJ cops are gonna put red colored spotlights on telephone poles in high crime areas to shine red colored light beams on suspicious persons or activity to let the potential culprits and the public know that the cops are watching them and/or on the way.

I guess the crooks and thugs in East Orange have never heard of shooting out lights or wearing masks to disguise their identity. The cost of this bullshit is to be borne by the federal treasury of course.  Given the human cesspool that inhabits East Orange demographics-wise perhaps that is the case. However they will no doubt quickly learn and adapt. After all even amoebas learn from simple stimulus-response cycles. What a laugh. Scary and funny at the same time.

Weblog

EMU regent blasts firing of basketball coach
The university doesn't have the money to pay him off and hire someone else says Regent Jim Stapleton. Sheesh. Maybe EMU should just drop NCAA sports altogether.
Ypsilanti Township to put surveillance cameras in and around West Willow neighborhood
"The cameras start recording still images upon detecting motion in an area and transmit full color images back to a central computer, where they are stored for up to 45 days. The cameras would not provide a live stream and no one would regularly monitor the recordings."
Border's Books HQ leaving Ann Arbor
Sad to see it go but I don't see BB coming back from their bankruptcy.

weblog

A cute little mutant lizard with two heads-io9

Problem is they keep trying to eat each other.

5,600 plus people line up for week-long free clinic in Los Angeles - LA Times

According to economists there is "no demand" (i.e., "the ability to pay")out there for medical services by the poor.

Can you truly "disappear" in modern surveillance state? - Times of London

Secret Safes Let You Hide Belongings in Plain Sight - Popular Mechanics

Pat Buchanan comes out as an admirer of the PRC's state-capitalist model of governance - Taki's Magazine

Implantable bio-medical technology - Technology Review

It can monitor your insulin level or tell the police where you are in real time instantly. Boon or bust? Depends.

The Saiga Model 12 - A very nasty Russian-made semi-auto shotgun.

Will weed lose its mojo if it becomes perfectly legal? - LA Weekly
Some think so. I mean who sings about beer, wine or single-malt Scotch?
"Why I love shoplifting from big corporations" - Crimethinc