2nd Amendment Silences First. Gun ramblings.

So the great Val shared this on Twitter not too long ago: Men With Loaded Rifles Intimidate Moms Gathered At Gun Safety Rally.

This is an under-reported type of story.  Because it underscores a very real problem.  People do not engage in their Rights to Free Speech/Assembly when they're afraid.  (As an aside, this is one of the reasons I do not write.  But that's the inner fear of criticism/judgement/whatever.  It's also why these posts never get a link posted on Facebook).

Guns silence critics.  People show up loaded to counter protest an assembly?  They aren't really there to counter protest, they are there to intimidate.  To silence the other side.  They want people to see those guns and have those people imagine those guns pointed at them.  Most people who do this tactic are smart enough to know all it takes is the presence of guns, they don't need to threaten.  They don't need to look like they're doing anything illegal.  But they are threatening all the same.

Guns are not toys.  They are not fashion accessories.  Guns were built for one purpose and one purpose only, to fling small pieces of metal at high speeds into the bodies of living creatures.  They have no purpose to be worn to any type of protest.

In this supposed civilized age (Hey we're not using them to permanently silence protesters) the fact that people truly believe that they have this inherent right to hold these items made to kill out in public disgusts me.  And it frightens me, greatly.

The fact that people still truly believe the NRA fights for their rights, rather than the rights of Gun Manufacturers sadden me.  But then, the ability of people to delude themselves is great. (It's not just a Right thing.  How many left wing Dems keep getting re-elected despite their electorates hatred of the banks the Dems answer to?)  We have not truly evolved as a people, as we're still the same cave-men, afraid of the loud noises out at night and easily manipulated by our leaders to respond how they want us to to those loud noises)

This is yet another reason why our country is not great.  Why our country is not free.  For all it takes is a few people with guns to stand there silently, to silence a large group.

Wherein I reply to random Facebook people

My wife posted this image to her facebook account before going to sleep tonight.  One person asked if it was wise that we pay someone to reproduce when the human race is overpopulating the earth.  Another person asked why should a company pay someone for not doing anything for them.

I had two responses to this:

A Bright Cold Day in December

"And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown.                                Welcome to America. It's safer here."

The National Rifle Association was founded in 1871 partially in response to just how badly Union recruits fired their rifles.  They organized rifle clubs in various states to improve marksmanship.  Historically they were about gun training and safety.  And in fact have many former generals amongst their Presidents and even a former President.  

Then in 1977 something changed.  They changed from gun safety to "SECOND AMENDMENT!"  They became more of a lobbying organization of gun manufacturers and not gun enthusiasts.  But they knew how to talk to their members and pull the wool over their eyes.  This organization, this group that used to count Ulysses S Grant as a President, began to state that gun laws were how the jackbooted thugs of the Federal Government would take away their members freedoms.

Many people bought this line.  The second amendment suddenly was re-interpreted.  It was now an "Everyone can have guns" amendment rather than an "Organized Militia" amendment as it had been interpreted often historically.

And now they wish a National Database of The Mentally Ill.  That was distinctly mentioned in their press statement.  So if you're mentally ill, you must register on a national database.

They wish for a Good Guy With A Gun in every school.  There are over 98,000 schools in the US.  If you were to pay one person minimum wage to be at each school for 8 hours a day, 180 days a year, it would cost US$1B.  And I am sure you would not pay only minimum wage to this position.

They are advocating the beginning of a police state.  The same group that tells its members that the President is going to take their guns.  The same group that implies a fear of jackbooted thugs of the government everywhere. They now are advocating it.  

They also are advocating that the media is to blame.  That movies, that video games are to blame.  That the First Amendment is less than the Second, because Two is a bigger number.

Doublethink, after all, is the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in ones mind simultaneously and accepting both of them.  This is today's NRA.

Sometime before the New Year, perhaps tomorrow, I will write the story of how I got shot.  The bullet inside of me has been rather sensitive the past few days as if it wants its story told.

Paywalls

So it looks as if the Washington Post is going to paywall itself.  It'll follow in the famous steps of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, but the less famous steps of the regional papers as well.

This is a long time in coming, unfortunately.  I hate paywalling.  I want to be able to get my news and as I am but a poor man I cannot afford the variety of subscriptions.  But as I am sure most of us have noticed, newspapers plain and simply suck.

It started in the '90s.  The '90s, when only the Nerds were online (Online year: 1995 for me) yet the newspaper industry was blaming online (And cable) for their dying profits.  Back at that point the newspaper industry was earning large net profits.  Profits that most industries would (And possibly have) kill for.  But Wall Street's mentality is if your profits shrink, you are dying.  And while that can be argued to be true, if your profits shrink but every other industry would still kill to have them, you might be okay for the time being.

Now there were many answers on how to regrow the newspaper industry at that point.  However the tycoons decided to cut. (This is where the root for my immense hatred of Wall Street comes from).  The various papers began to cut bureau reporters.  And that satisfied the ravening beast in New York some.  But eventually it asked for more sacrifices.

And this is what began to kill off the newspaper industry.  The papers began to get rid of their high seniority reporters due to the level of pay.  Bean-Counter logic.  The downside is that journalism, true journalism, requires relationships.

So the veteran police reporter that's now laid off and replaced by some fresh reporter?  All the relationships that reporter had with the police station goes away, they don't magically transfer to the new reporter.  So tips, off the record conversations, on the record conversations, anonymous conversations...they all go away.

But it's not just the police.  It's city hall, it's the state capital, it's various community organizations.  The cutting of the highest paid reporters caused the papers to have no relationships.

For instance: I recently cancelled my subscription to the Indianapolis Star.  Why?  It was nothing.  Anytime I complained by their lack of community reporting they would talk about the incidental "lifestyle" crap that they continued to add.  Yes, restaurant reviews are nice to have.  What is going on, what is worth going to, all very nice to have.  But for some reason they figured actual news was not important, it was best to keep adding to the lifestyle section.

I finally got fed up and I have not missed it.  (Well except for the fact they robbed me. I called, cancelled my subscription and they cancelled it instantly despite me having paid for 3 more weeks.)  And I am really curious what their subscription rates are like now that they've raised their rates and paywalled their website.

But that long rambling bit aside...Due to the place the industry finds itself now, the Era of Free News is coming to an end.  Paywalls are coming and seem to even be necessary.  If the papers have good publishers, the money might go to actual reporting and an improving of content.  But if they don't, it'll just be a magazine in grayprint.

Speaking of magazines.  As I am sure most of you know, Newsweek has dropped their physical magazine.  So how will they make money?  They're currently floating a plan to make the Daily Beast paywalled.  Yes, even the Daily Beast, mostly an opinionated place, will be paywalled.

This is the end, my friend.  Free News, the era of free information is at an end.  And while it could be argued that the free information is what led to the crappy reporting of the past decade plus, I think this is still a thing to be mourned.

Newslinks November 19th, 2012

I will say the Hamas experiment has mostly failed.  Their governing arm has done a decent job providing services to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the fact they are in charge has moderated the militant wing...a little.  But it's way too little. The militant wing has too little interest in protecting the Palestinian people so they continue to be a terrorist faction instead of a source of stability and defense.
In all honesty, the way Gaza looks at the moment, if an election was held and Hamas was voted out I doubt they would give it up.  Remember the civil war against Fatah.  But that is just speculation, there'd first have to be an election and second Hamas would have to lose.  And there were supposed to be elections back in May, in an agreement Hamas made (brokered by the Egyptians) with the Palestinian National Authority, but they backed out of the elections stating holding them would be "impossible."  In January it will have been 7 years since elections were held in Palestine.
Also of interest: In 2011 the Independent Commission for Human Rights lambasted the PA, Hamas and Israel for human rights abuses against the Palestinians.  I don't remember hearing much about this, but I think that should be highlighted.
Hamas could have ended up the good guys in this, however improbably and insane that statement seems.  Terrorist organizations can reform, especially if given political power.  But they're clinging to power and abusing the trust of the people they're in charge of.   If there was the 15 years of peace (see newslink below) that Israel wanted, I wonder how long it would take for the Palestinian people to rise up against their own government.  But it won't happen as long as there are attacks in their cities.  No matter how bad their government is, people band together behind it when attacked by an outside force.

Aulayan's News Links: November 9th, 2012

Welcome to my newslinks.  I cannot guarantee I'll do this everyday.  But I may.  If I do I will attempt to have it up by 2 pm.  I gather most of my links in the morning but I wait until 2 due to the major news that usually starts coming out around 11.  Also: Fuck CNN. (You'll see why at the end of this post)