Sorry for “lite” posting yesterday. I’m deadlining all this month while also trying to paint, trim, and partially re-side two walls of the house.
I bought shingles and cedar boards in April in a wild-to-the-point-of-insanity fit of optimism. I dreamed spring would shortly yield to summer. Yeah. The supplies sat in the yard getting rained on. Now, we’ve got a brief eyeblink of dry weather. So I’m juggling: work-work in the a.m., improvement-work in the afternoon, dogs and housework … somewhere.
I’m also getting to know a video camera sent by Terry Bressi The Checkpoint Beater. The only previous video camera I owned weighed about 20 pounds and was bought from an ex newsguy in the mid 1980s. Its cassettes and for that matter its batteries were five times the size of this fancy little gadget. And need I say this one has much greater capabilities?
Very cool; the new “Terry-cam” is designed to be strapped on or mounted to various surfaces for filming action (bike treks, rollerblading, snowboarding, and presumably cops violating citizens’ rights on the highway).
I promised Terry I’d review it on the blog. But you and he will pardon me while I catch up to the rest of you in the 21st century. My video camera learning curve is steep. I’ve just about got the thing figured out now. Next step; learning how to edit out and post a small clip to show you.
Anyhow, here are some outstanding links for you while I stick my nose back on the grindstone.
- Kevin Wilmeth does an excellent follow-up (though also a sad one) to the hero dog video I posted the other day.
- Speaking of dogs, meet Jurong’s Hachiko.
- Anybody who knows Wyoming knows how very, very true this is. And how funny.
- Smile properly for the government, citizen. Or get arrested. (H/T Jim B.)
- And never, never wave your arms at the wrong moment.
- In the news you can use department: How to make your own pepper spray. Haven’t tried it myself. Just passing along the recipe.
- Hate Facebook? You may be a psychopath. Or so morons might think. (Tip o’ hat to MJR.)
- Good on Brian Wilson. You are John Galt. So am I. So can we all be.
Brian’s right about the “smallest minority,” but there was an important error in the article. Galt never “work[ed] surreptitiously to destroy” anything. He persuaded the Producers to leave for THEIR OWN sake; the collapse of society was just a logical consequence of that.
This is critically important and why the goal is NOT “to set some brushfires,” but rather to build our own lives. It’s about creating, producing and building. Let the a**holes destroy themselves. They will, for to where else could a death philosophy lead?
Don’t set brushfires. Build gardens.
He has a second error as well, that quote isn’t from Sam Adams according to https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams
OTOH, “shrugging” (going Galt) _is_ setting brushfires in a passive, ingenious way – like a smoldering rag which spontaneously combusts over time. It ignites other materials (shruggers) near it, and ultimately burns down the house. Just another way of looking at it.
Jim, I like to think about my “Gault” activities as necessary to both build my own life and set brushfires. I set brushfires by helping others find the tools to be rational thinkers, producers and builders. Some folks are just ignorant, and many are seeking information whereby they can set themselves free – once they understand the possibilities.
The a***holes will self destruct no matter what anyone does. I’m not concerned with them. 🙂
My local police department has two officers who WANT cameras put in all cop cars. They were falsely accused of wrongdoing till the training tool one was wearing was played. One was wearing a set of eye glass camera. He used it for training to get an idea of what happened from his POV. (something like this; http://www.amazon.com/MV-8GB-MEGASight-Sunglasses-built–Definition/dp/B0087HK5NK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344522345&sr=1-3&keywords=sunglasses+camera)
They not only want cameras in all cars, but a more expensive version of these camera for the cops to wear when on duty. (ballistic eye wear, 12 hr of continuous recording, encrypted storage, etc. almost $1,500 each). As much as I don’t like the idea of being recorded all the time, I don’t mind the idea of these glasses on cops.
We know that abuse charges go down when there are increased cameras being used by the cops (either they self restrain knowing they are being taped, or the cams show they are not abusing). And it would make the court cases a lot better. “What did the cop see when he walked in? Roll tape”
If I were a cop, I’d definitely want as much videotaping as possible. If I were a good cop, that is.
“I set brushfires by helping others find the tools to be rational thinkers, producers and builders.”
Sounds right; I just wasn’t calling that setting brushfires. It’s all in the math: 1 > 0.
I am participating in John Galt Day on August 13th and my web site and voice mail with both say that very thing. It will be lost on the masses, but will mean something to me so I am doing it.
Regarding Facebook, I wonder what the cut off age for being considered “normal” if you don’t have one? I have one, but haven’t posted on it in several months and even when I did post on it, the posts weren’t important or really all that relevant. Of course this prompts a new question, if you ALREADY have a Facebook page and delete it does it set off all kinds of alarms at the FBI and Homeland Security outfits? I guess I will find out since I will be deleting mine relatively soon.
“Yoffee points out that these judgements don’t apply to older people who were already productive adults before social media became widespread.”
Add one more plus to being old…I can’t help but chuckle at the assumption that being on social media (as an individual) is being productive…..I don’t have a FB page, but I have put up FB pages for promotional stuff – so I’m assuming since I know how to make it work then I’m only a semi-psychopath, heh….
And I have broken down (in a UHaul, of course) in that very place in WY, or maybe it just LOOKS like that very place….hard to tell….
Here’s a version of the saying “I don’t care who runs as long as I count the votes”, “I don’t care about recordings as long I edit the final result”. Meaning they want to be the only recorders as long as they control the cameras, try using your own cameras, see how far that’ll take you. Better to use and keep your own cameras in secret until it’s time to not keep them secret, like after the event.
Can you tell I don’t trust them at all. : )
I hear ya, Jim B. However …
“Better to use and keep your own cameras in secret until it’s time to not keep them secret, like after the event.”
… in some states that’ll get you serious, serious prison time. Or at least the threat of it (and a lot of lawyer bills). In some places, secret recordings can violate wiretapping laws — even when all you’re doing is recording things that are being done in plain sight with no expectation of privacy.
State laws on recording are often out of step with new technology and some are so ambiguous you can’t be sure whether or not you’re violating them.
I think a way around that would be to have an obvious camera then motion very, very casually to it and say “I’m recording this stop”, even if there is not a camera the cops can see.
Just say you’re recording and let the cop decide what he wants to do from there. Don’t think there is a law against recording as long as you make all parties aware of the fact.
“Don’t think there is a law against recording as long as you make all parties aware of the fact.”
In some venues not only does everyone have to be aware of the recording but all parties must agree to be recorded. Usually Officer Friendly declines to have a record of his protecting and serving preserved for posterity.