Everyone's Dream Come True - Domestic Painray Use

And you thought you'd be bored talking about Aunt Porcina's gout this Christmas! Police all over the country are salivating over the potential for a cheaper pain ray. Our poor municipalities can't afford the multi-million dollar, Humvee mounted version with a 6 foot radius and a range of 1/2 a mile. It's just tax payer's money anyway (more likely its debt on top of debt - so its our children's children's children's money) but they need it cheaper since the tax-base won't support the big guns. They want one they can carry around. They're thinking a radius of 100 feet should be fine.

Think of it fellow citizens?! Soon you'll have the chance to say things like, "Of course it doesn't shock my conscience... It's non-lethal." And "Yeah, but it doesn't do permanent damage and that guy was totally asking for it. He was mouthing off at a political rally."

My favorite idea in the article is the plan to mount the ray hidden inside the walls of a room. I want one in my dining room. At parties if anyone disagrees with me.... EVERYBODY PAYS - even me. ;[ That ought to keep things lively!

I hope you're as comfortable as I am with another huge step toward the end of peaceful decent. We weren't using those silly old rights anyway....

Good luck comrade citizen.

For those party guest who just won't take a hint....

The folks at Raytheon should really open a Disney-style park to show this type of stuff off. Who would believe that it was possible to create a real, honest-to-goodness PAIN RAY with a range of 1/2 a mile!

You can see it here too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr3qJ0racd0

Here's a British reporter taking one for the team (just on the finger):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=482560&in_page_id=1965

Here's an American report that you can believe at your peril:

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/10/the-active-can-.html

I'm totally getting four of these! I'm gonna point them randomly at everyone and everything and yell, "Take that for whatever you might feel guilty about!"

Once all my neighbors have had a dose I'll be the undisputed KING of the Home Owner's Association.

The best part is that without coroborating witnesses it's impossible to prove that you've been shot by one. I'm starting to reconsider the prospects of teaching high school....

Good luck comrade citizen!

Your Rights are Inconvenient to Your Government

Every appointed and elected official who didn't resist these should be drummed out of office. If you think anything about these two seemingly minor issues is acceptable, please post, I'd be happy to respond.

Due Process Suspended for Revenue Collections in DC
http://www.theagitator.com/archives/028326.php#028326
The errosion of your rights regarding revenue collection has been going on for years but there has always been a patina of access to the law. No more. Due to the fact that they were LOSING THE CASES TOO OFTEN, DC has eliminated access even to the lame administrative courts that they and the rest of the country setup to "adjudicate" parking tickets.

Seems trivial right? "Awe come on, it's just a parking ticket..." Before you totally dismiss it, consider that now, if a meter maid ticketed you unfairly every day because you looked at her funny there is no court inwhich to get recourse. You'd be forced to pay every one until you found a way of bringing the abuse to the attention of her superiors (if they cared). Since parking enforcement is typically handled by aggressive subcontractors whose deal with the city is predicated on increased revenue collections... I doubt that a simple appeal to her superiors would work... They'd probably give her a raise.

Good luck comrade citizen.

Finally - Police can Forcibly take Your Blood
http://www.theagitator.com/archives/028326.php#028326
Like me, you probably spend sleepless nights worrying that the police don't have enough power and wishing that we could just sweep aside trivialities like health safety and human dignity. Good news! Now police can FORCIBLY TAKE YOUR BLOOD right out on the street.

I'm sure there will be some alarmist out there who think its a bad idea. That would likely be because they don't know, like I do, that everyone in the government is trustworthy and competent. The thought of a vial of my blood rattling around a police car or evidence room (with all of the security and care applied to material from a traffic stop) makes me feel safer.

Good luck comrade citizen!

Ron Paul Slur

The front page of Wired online is REALLY freaking me out. It has a picture of Ron Paul looking pissed next to this headline:

'Criminal' Botnet Stumps for Ron Paul, Researchers Allege.

The article describes a run-of-the-mill spam tactic which probably violates the CAN SPAM act.

I'll leave the truth or fiction of this to moment when I've got more time. I just want to point out a few things.

1. The Picture of Ron Paul looking pissed is snuggled up to the word "Criminal."

2. The headline's grammer is TORTURED to lead with the word "Criminal" and push the word "Allege" to the end of the line. It would read more naturally as "Researchers Allege 'Criminal' Botnet Stumps for Ron Paul".
3. The meat of the article is, especially for a tech magazine, pretty darn ignorant of spam tactics and peppered with innuendo.... The criminality is arguable and yet its the lead. Ron Paul's organization seems totally unaware of it but that's at the bottom of the page.... The author implies (almost simply says) that Ron Paul's popularity is a result of technical manipulation of the internet. check out the lead sentence:

"If Texas congressman Ron Paul is elected president in 2008, he may be the first leader of the free world put into power with the help of a global network of hacked PCs spewing spam, according to computer-security researchers who've analyzed a recent flurry of e-mail supporting the long-shot Republican candidate. "

It turns out to be about a few hundred spam messages!!!

I've grown extremely used to these types of tactics in main stream news. Let's face it main stream news sucks. It's heavily and unabashedly biased and no longer seems concerned with the presentation of supporting facts. But tech magazines...? Huh? Who is this headline for? It seems like it may be an attempt to drive some of the Ron Paul Google traffic at best and a paid slander at worst.... Regardless, its pretty bizarre for it to show up on Wired!

Do you think so?