Gun-Related Discussions

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

Last Friday one of the worst tragedies unfolded as a 20 year old stole his mothers guns, killed her, then killed 20 children and 5 adults at an elementary school. This spurred lots of calls for additional gun bans. Never mind that the guns were stolen, never mind the massacre occurred in an official ‘gun free zone’, never mind the school was locked and strict security measures were in place, never mind the state of Connecticut already has very restrictive gun laws and is at the top of the list of states that spend lots of money for mental illness programs, never mind that gun bans do not work and there are hundreds of other factors at play. What about the history of the creation of the USA and the wisdom of the founding fathers when they created the Bill of Rights? Nope, never mind that too!

There has been some pretty good discussion on facebook about this subject. I’m copying some of my favorites here:
—
Larry Pratt at Gun Owners of America: “One measure of insanity is repeating the same failure time after time hoping that the next time the failure will turn out to be a success. Gun Free Zones are a lethal insanity.”
—
JJM:
I refuse to have the debate until people realize some basic things:
1. You are 49 times more likely to die by lightning strike than in a mass shooting.
2. Crazy killed those kids.
3. One gun could have stopped crazy.
4. Crazy could kill in any number of ways.
Now on to general gun violence: Continue reading →

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Notes from Catalyst 730

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

We Texans and TAG put on a training session on Saturday to teach people how Legislature in Austin works and how to interact with the process. I’ve come to realize that a citizen’s responsibility includes actively working to hold the government accountable and translate your wishes and values into action. (voting is not fulfillment of your responsibility, it takes more)

My notes on what I learned follow, including pictures of some of the handouts and swag.

  • Texas legislators are in session for 140 days every 2 years.  This is when all laws and amendments get passed.
  • Much of the work in creating laws is done ‘the rest of the time:  There are 730 days in a 2-year period.
  • “Lex Rex, not Rex Lex” : no man is above the law (the way it should be)
  • ~5000 bills come through each session
  • 1/2 die in committee
  • ~1000 get passed into law
  • Texas House
    • House has 150 members, each representing ~ 175,000 citizens
    • Tax bills must originate in the house
    • Speaker of house is elected and can vote
  • Texas Senate
    • has 31 members, each representing ~800,000 citizens (more than federal congressmen, which is 700,000)
    • Presiding officer of senate is Lieutenant Governor, not a speaker
  • Three types of constraints in force
    • Texas Constitution
    • Statutes -end effect of bills being passed
    • Rules -might change slightly each year, can be suspended
  • Texas Constitution requires that a bill be read 3 times
    • 1st reading: in committee
    • 2nd reading: in House – for debate
    • 3rd reading:
  • Readings are ‘summary only’
  • No citizen interaction on floor – only through rep
  • Citizen interaction during committee is main opportunity, also chances to talk to reps in halls and at appointments
  • Monitor calendar (online) to determine actions being taken
  • Rule of thumb by Smitty Smith about influence
    • 5 letters = the boss (Representative) will see it
    • 10 letters = it is a big deal
    • 100 letters = it is a really big deal
    • Form letters don’t count for much, but real letters do (short, bullet point style is good)
    • Files on USB drive are available here
    • Lobbiest use money to get attention of representatives, but citizens get more attention than money.

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[Show slideshow]

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Unserioius People

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

Bill Whittle doses out some painful truth here. The most important point is made around 5:50 mark:

PJTV: Afterburner with Bill Whittle — Unserious People

We Texans and TAG sponsored a training day called Catalyst 730 in Austin yesterday. One of the afternoon panelists said this:

you don’t need to be angry,
you don’t need to feel powerless,
you just need to participate

I agree. A government by the people in the name of liberty only functions correctly if decent people are actively involved.

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Encrypt File Folders with TrueCrypt

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

I recently converted some of my personal folders (like MyDocuments) to reside within an encrypted file.  Besides the obvious benefit of keeping the information in that folder more private, another reason was so I can take the contents of the folders with me anywhere (on a external USB drive) and not have to worry about what would happen if I lost the drive or what other people would see if they borrow the drive.  (In the un-encrypted state, the folder looks like a big file on the drive full of gobbledgook)  Another advantage is that if the drive is stolen, they won’t have all my personal documents, they would just have some encrypted files that are meaningless.  Since the whole folder is housed within one file, copying, syncing, and backups are easy too.

When TrueCrypt is running, the encrypted folders work just like regular folders, you can copy to/from etc.  When you deactivate TrueCrypt, all you see is the encrypted file.  (and it can be configured to make that hidden as well)  The program runs on Linux, Windoze, and Mac and is open source.

As an additional measure of safety, the folders can be encrypted with both a password and a key file.  This lets you add an extra layer of protection:  Even if your password is known, the folder can’t be decrypted unless the physical key file is present.

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Encrypt Messages using PGP / GnuPG

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

If you ever want to keep your electronic messages very private, using something called a ‘public-key cryptography’ is a good way to do it.  The common implementation of this method is known as PGP, which stands for “pretty good privacy”.  (it is better than just pretty good, but the original developer didn’t want to be over confident) The open source community has created the same functionality in their GnuPG (just GPG – GNU Privacy Guard) project.  How it actually works is interesting (even though I don’t fully understand the nuts and bolts of it).  It uses a two-part ‘key’.  Part one of the key is yours only, and is to be kept safe and secure so only you can access it.  It is called your private key.  Part two of the key is published and given to anyone wishing to exchange messages with you.  (they have a two-part key also)

 

The process to send an encrypted message to someone is:

  1. Type out your message in plain text.
  2. Use the GPG program, and your recipient’s public key to encrypt the text, which creates ciphertext.
  3. Copy the ciphertext into an email, instant message, or hand-written letter and send to your recipient.

To decode an encrypted message that someone sent to you:

  1. Copy the ciphertext into the GPG progam and use your private key to decrypt back to plain text.

Read more at Gnu Privacy Guard (GnuPG) Mini Howto.

Use Brian Gallimore’s public key to send me messages!

Posted in Information, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Bucky Roberts and TheNewBoston.org

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

One of my personal goals is to teach myself how to program in java. After falling asleep while reading tutorials, I clicked on youtube and then found Bucky Robert’s java tutorials. They are good. After going through the first 18, I clicked on his website thenewboston.org, and read this on the ‘about’ page:

I soon realized that these videos were something more than just another cat video on YouTube. They were a gateway to a higher education, for free. While Universities and Corporations were charging like crazy for people to receive an education, people could come and watch my videos and get the same information for no cost at all. I decided that this is the way it would be. An education should be free for everyone who desires one. It should not be a business. And quickly, that became my goal.

So, while most assholes who declare ‘education should be free’ really mean someone else should pay for a the bloated over-priced scam that is the state-run higher education system, this guy is actually doing it. He is educating people for free, at his own expense! Based on his youtube channel‘s stats, I’d say he is doing a great job of it too!

Hats off and many thanks to Bucky.  This type of action is the future.  Individuals providing, for free or near-free, what huge organizations provide for huge piles of money.  Doing it better, more efficiently, and more effectively.  Here is my favorite part:  He is doing it because he thinks it is the right thing to do, and (hopefully) he is making a living teaching what he loves to others.  By the way, rah rah free Internet (as in freedom).  Let’s keep it that way!

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The Problem with the Federal Reserve in 20 Seconds

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Brian Gallimore


Federal Reserve in under 20 seconds

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Ron Paul: George Bush “Deep Into” CIA Drug Trafficking – YouTube

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

“I think that might be the number 1 reason for the drug laws. …not for high prices for some two-bit drug dealer, as much as to raise the funds necessary for governments to illegal things.  …The sooner we get rid of our drug laws, the sooner this would end.”  -Ron Paul

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Ben Swann: “No Country Would Tolerate Missiles From Outside Borders” U.S. Hypocrisy? – YouTube

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

Ben Swann: “No Country Would Tolerate Missiles From Outside Borders” U.S. Hypocrisy? – YouTube.

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You Might be a Statist if…

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Brian Gallimore

You Might be a Redneck Statist if…  (more at facebook.com/StatistSlayers)

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