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America's hottest women buying guns by the thousands

Posted by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 05 2020, @08:19PM (#6020)
141 Comments
News

FORMER SENATOR SAYS ‘WOMEN SICK OF ALL THESE GUNS.’ WOMEN SAY OTHERWISE
By Larry Keane

Former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) was replaced by voters in 2018 and is now a political talk show pundit. During a discussion about the violence erupting in America’s communities, including Kenosha, Wisconsin, Portland, Oregon and her home-state St. Louis, Missouri, Sen. McCaskill opined women are “sick of all these guns.” Data shows she couldn’t be more mistaken.

Not So Show-Me Senator
Missouri is a state with strong Second Amendment approval and Sen. McCaskill tried to hide her antigun beliefs while in office. She was caught talking about her support for more gun control when she thought no voters would hear. Even her staff was recorded describing the senator’s Second Amendment voter deception. When pressed why she wasn’t more vocal for gun control, a staffer bluntly stated, “But she doesn’t openly go out and support groups like Moms Demand Action or just like other groups that are related to that. Because that could hurt, her ability to get elected.”

On gun control, Sen. McCaskill supported a grab-bag of favorites, including reinstating a so-called “Assault Weapons Ban,” limiting so-called “large capacity magazines,” expanding background checks and even voting against a right-to-carry reciprocity bill.

Violence, Rioting and Surging Firearm Sales
As the coronavirus pandemic escalated, Americans became concerned for their safety and the safety of their families and neighborhoods. They watched as local law enforcement were stretched thin and unable to quickly respond to calls for help. Criminals were released from jails, many of whom committed more crimes. Prosecutors announced they wouldn’t prosecute criminals, inviting law-breakers to act. With cities facing violence, looting and rioting, calls to “defund the police” echoed. Close to Sen. McCaskill’s home, the McCloskey’s of St. Louis made national headlines for exercising their right to protect their home.

These legitimate concerns spurned historic numbers of Americans to buy firearms in 2020. More than 13 million have done so, including more than 5 million first-timers.

Women Gun Owners Growing Fast
Speaking on TV about violent riots and how they may affect November’s presidential election, former Sen. McCaskill stated women had had enough. She said “And, you know, the American suburban women, they see that. And they don’t like everybody having an AR-15. That’s part of the problem in America right now.” She continued, “And the guns is a huge part of this. And women in America are sick of all of these guns…”

Data tells a different story. The continuing surge of firearm ownership in America includes women as one of the fastest-growing demographics, continuing a 20-year trend. In 2003, 13 percent of women identified as gun owners. Today that number totals around 25 percent. A quarter of those female gun owners said self-protection was their main reason for purchasing a gun and a whopping 70 percent affirmed owning a gun was essential to their personal freedom.

2020 sales have grown those numbers. Former Sen. McCaskill may be inconvenienced to learn of the nearly 13 million new firearms in the past 8 months, 5 million were purchased by first-time owners and nearly 2 million were women.

Data also shows handguns and Modern Sporting Rifles, including the AR-15 model former Sen. McCaskill mentioned, are among the most popular-selling firearms, for reasons of personal protection. Women aren’t just buying guns and placing them in a safe or storing them away either. Women’s firearm training courses are booked solid, shooting ranges across the country are hosting “ladies night” events and women are practicing to ensure they are confident gun users. The ‘Soccer Mom’ has become the ‘Security Mom’ as they’ve taken their concerns, jumped off the fence and went right to the gun retail counter.

Former Sen. McCaskill is right. Women are concerned watching current events. But they aren’t “sick of all these guns.” Violence, rioting, looting and calls to reduce law enforcement are prompting women to take their safety, and the safety of their families, into their hands. That’s why the Second Amendment exists.

https://www.nssf.org/former-senator-says-women-sick-of-all-these-guns-women-say-otherwise/

Gun control advocates hate women!

PicoRio RISC-V SBC: Flame On

Posted by takyon on Saturday September 05 2020, @07:45PM (#6018)
3 Comments
Hardware

Board only exists on paper:

PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an Open Source Alternative to Raspberry Pi Board

Linux capable RISC-V boards do exist but cost several hundred dollars or more with the likes of HiFive Unleashed and PolarFire SoC Icicle development kit. If only there was a RISC-V board similar to the Raspberry Pi board and with a similar price point… The good news is that the RISC-V International Open Source (RIOS) Laboratory is collaborating with Imagination technologies to bring PicoRio RISC-V SBC to market at a price point similar to Raspberry Pi.

From the comments:

I was compelled to comment after laughing hysterically at seeing “open source” and “Imagination Technologies” mentioned in the same breath.

Covid cure number four or so, quercetin.

Posted by Bot on Friday September 04 2020, @10:43PM (#6013)
14 Comments
Digital Liberty

Specific inhibitor against COVID virus, study says.
https://www.adnkronos.com/fatti/cronaca/2020/09/03/covid-composto-naturale-uccide-scoperta-del-cnr_TUndBK9T2XnlRkpd5S2DGK.html

Oh my, a natural substance. Waiting for the countermeasures by big pharma.

EDIT: english article said this in march, too bad pharma is occupied with genome altering vaccines to test what has been already successful with previous version of SARS viruses. https://matcha.com/blogs/news/quercetin-a-safe-natural-antiviral-covid19-2020

A progressive's look at the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings

Posted by Runaway1956 on Friday September 04 2020, @06:09PM (#6012)
153 Comments
News

Column: Here’s why Kyle Rittenhouse, the teen shooting suspect in Kenosha killings, is likely to get off
By ERIC ZORN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
SEP 03, 2020 AT 3:39 PM

Kyle Rittenhouse is going to walk.

This is my conclusion as I emerge, blinking in the light, from the rabbit hole I’ve been down all week of self-defense law, jury-instruction language, charging documents and online, frame-by-frame analysis of the videos of the tragic shootings in Kenosha during street protests on Aug. 25.

Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, in the shooting deaths of two protesters and the wounding of a third. The homicide charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 65 years.

Those of us on the left who are already outraged that it’s legal for civilians to openly carry military-style assault weapons in public spaces should begin now to brace for the inevitable resolution of this case.

Kyle Rittenhouse is probably going to walk.

He’s going to plead self-defense — his lawyers have already signaled as much — and from what I’ve seen, read and heard, I predict he’s going to be acquitted on the most serious charges.

Yes, it seems certain that Rittenhouse was in violation of Chapter 948.6 of Wisconsin law when he was guarding business properties with a weapon of war slung across his back. That law bans minors from carrying guns, and Kenosha County’s criminal complaint notes the maximum penalty for that offense is nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.

But even those who break that law don’t forfeit their right to “use force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm (if they) reasonably believe that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to (themselves),” as Chapter 939.48, Wisconsin’s self-defense law, spells out.

According to prosecutors, video from the scene and witness accounts, the legally relevant portion of the story picked up a little before midnight: For unknown reasons, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, who had earlier been yelling angrily at the armed men who had come to the protests, was at a run, chasing Rittenhouse along Sheridan Road and into the parking lot of a used-car dealer.

When Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, finally cornered Rittenhouse, he grabbed for the teenager’s gun. Multiple shots rang out, and Rosenbaum fell, mortally wounded.

Did Rittenhouse have a reasonable belief under the circumstances that if Rosenbaum got his gun he would suffer death or great bodily harm? Jurors in Wisconsin are instructed that “reasonable” means “what a person of ordinary intelligence and prudence would have believed ... under the circumstances that existed at the time.”

Tensions were high late into the protests against the police shooting of Jacob Blake two days earlier. Gunshots from other weapons were heard immediately before and after the shots that killed Rosenbaum. Whether you think Rittenhouse is a hero for helping guard against a repeat of the vandalism the night before, or if you think he’s a reckless wannabe cop who had no business in Kenosha, you’ve got to concede that, at that moment, he was probably terrified.

Rittenhouse hustled away. Soon a group of people began chasing him up Sheridan Road, shouting “Beat him up!” “Get him! Get that dude!” and “Get his ass!” according to the prosecution’s summary. One of the pursuers took a swing at Rittenhouse and knocked his ball cap off.

Were those running after him simply trying to effect a citizen’s arrest in the belief that Rittenhouse had just committed a crime and might be a danger to others?

“Whether or not the people chasing him thought they had the right to chase him is irrelevant,” said Richard Kling, a veteran Chicago defense attorney who teaches evidence and forensic science at Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Rittenhouse stumbled and fell as he ran. One of his pursuers took a flying kick at his head and missed as Rittenhouse fired two errant shots from the ground. A second pursuer, Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin, swung a skateboard at Rittenhouse, hitting him on the shoulder, and grabbed and tried to hang onto Rittenhouse’s rifle. Rittenhouse shot Huber in the chest during that struggle, prosecutors said, killing him.

A third victim, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, Wisconsin, who survived, first held up his hands in a gesture of surrender at a distance of a few feet. In one of his hands, he held a gun. But when he “moved toward” Rittenhouse, prosecutors said, Rittenhouse fired, striking him in the arm.

That final shooting “will be the most serious problem” for Rittenhouse at trial, Kling said. ”The guy did have a gun in his hand. But he wasn’t pointing it at or threatening Rittenhouse.”

What about the context, though? The confrontational, high-adrenaline interactions that led up to the tragic deaths. The night air punctuated by gunshots. Danger all around.

Did the teen willingly put himself in that fraught milieu and illegally, allegedly, risk a horrific escalation of that danger by carrying a gun on the scene? Yes.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/eric-zorn/ct-column-rittenhouse-kenosha-self-defense-zorn-20200903-susvsg45yndn7pb67l42ywnzn4-story.html

Runaway's note: That final shooting is really the least problematic for Kyle. Grosskreutz had a lethal weapon in his hand, as he approached Kyle a second time. That weapon was being brought to bear as Grosskreutz advanced. More, Grosskreutz has been quoted, "I just talked to [Gaige] too–his only regret was not killing the kid and hesitating to pull the gun before emptying the entire mag into him. Coward.”

Runaway's second note: For anyone who missed it, the above was written by a left wing partisan who took the time to study the videos. The only possible conclusion of an honest person who studies all of the video, is self defense was warranted.

Runaway's third note: If Rittenhouse were a racist, he's a total failure. Kid shot 3 white people, and never even threatened any black person in the crowd. The Aryan Brotherhood would disown his young ass!

Berlusconi gets COVID19, Correction: COVID19 gets Berlusconi

Posted by Bot on Friday September 04 2020, @05:41PM (#6011)
6 Comments
Digital Liberty

If I ever seen a win-win.

What to do if no haircuts for a year (or more)?

Posted by DannyB on Friday September 04 2020, @03:16PM (#6009)
49 Comments
Answers

Normally having to undergo a haircut is bad enough. I was due to suffer this dreaded procedure last March. Due to fears over COVID-19, I postponed it. But also because March is national procrastination week.

In retrospect, I probably should have done it then before Trump let things get really out of control. But I thought it would get better, if we just did what experts said. Instead it is now worse.

No haircut even on the horizon. I soon will be able to wear a pony tail tie. I think I could right now, but the tail would be short.

After a shower, when I comb my hair, the comb gets stuck. I use whatever amount of force is necessary to get the comb to proceed through the hair. The comb accumulates lots of hair. I think my hair is getting thinner but longer.

What can a software developer (Java) do if their hair gets longer and longer? Ideas?

George T. Seaver, Craft Vintner Dies at 75

Posted by NotSanguine on Friday September 04 2020, @03:54AM (#6006)
2 Comments
News

George Seaver, well-though of craft vintner, died at the age of 75 on Monday, 31 August 2020 in his Calistoga, California home. Seaver had previously been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and retired from public life in 2019.

Seaver's death is attributed to effects of the above mentioned dementia, aggravated by COVID-19.

Seaver founded his winery, Seaver Vineyards in 2005, with positive positive reviews of his wines starting in 2010.

Seaver came to wine making late in life, after several decades in a rather different line of business.

He is survived by his wife Nancy, daughters Sarah and Annie and four grandchildren.

Rest in peace, Mr. Seaver. You were a living legend and will be sorely missed.

Samsung 16 GB LPDDR5 DRAM Package Take Two

Posted by takyon on Tuesday September 01 2020, @02:32AM (#5994)
3 Comments
Mobile

Samsung Begins Mass Production of 16Gb LPDDR5 DRAM

Samsung is now manufacturing 16 Gb LPDDR5 DRAM chips, which it will use to make 16 GB packages, among others.

They were stacking 8x 12 Gb and 4x 8 Gb chips in their previous abominations. These ones are likely to be cheaper. It's also 16.3̅6̅% faster at 6,400 MT/s instead of 5,500 MT/s.

No word yet on 24 GB or 32 GB packages.

Previously: Samsung Announces Mass Production of 16 GB LPDDR5 DRAM Packages

Robert Kennedy Jr. - Berlin - aug 29, 2020 transcript

Posted by Bot on Monday August 31 2020, @12:07PM (#5992)
49 Comments
Digital Liberty

‘Thank you everybody. (applause)
Back at home in the United States, the newspapers are saying that I came here today to speak to about 5,000 Nazis. And tomorrow they’re gonna report that, yes, I was here and spoke to maybe 3-5,000 Nazis. And I look at this crowd and I see the opposite of Nazism. I see people who love democracy, people who want open government, people who want leaders that aren’t gonna lie to them, people who want leaders who won’t make up arbitrary rules and regulations to orchestrate obedience in the population. We want health officials who don’t have financial entanglements with the pharmaceutical industry, who are working for us and not Big Pharma. We want officials who care about our children’s health and not about pharmaceutical profits or government control. I look at this crowd – I see all the flags of Europe, I see people of every color, I see people from every nation, every religion all caring about human dignity, about children’s health, about political freedom — this is the opposite of Nazism! (applause)
Governments LOVE pandemics. They love pandemics for the same reason they love war. Because it gives them the ability to impose controls on the population that the population would otherwise NEVER accept – the great institutions and mechanisms for orchestrating and imposing obedience. Now, I’ll tell you something – it’s a mystery to me that all of these big important people like Bill Gates and Tony Fauci have been planning and thinking about this pandemic for decades, planning it so that we would all be safe when the pandemic finally came. And yet, now that it’s here, they don’t seem to know what they’re talking about. They seem to be making it up as they go along. They’re inventing numbers. They cannot tell you what the Case Fatality Rate for Covid is – that’s basic. They cannot give us a PCR test that actually works. They don’t have… They have to change the definition of Covid on the death certificates constantly to make it look more and more dangerous. But one thing that they’re good at is pumping up FEAR.
75 years ago, Hermann Goering testified at the Nuremberg Trials and he was asked ‘how did you make the German people go along with all this?’ He said it’s an easy thing. It’s not anything to do with Nazism. It has to do with human nature. You can do this in a Nazi regime, you can do it in a socialist regime, you can do it in a communist regime, you can do it in a monarchy and a democracy. The only thing that a government needs to make people into slaves is fear. And if you can figure out something to make them scared, you can get them to do anything that you want.
50 years ago, my uncle John Kennedy came to this city – he came here to Berlin because Berlin was the frontline against global totalitarianism. And today again, Berlin is the frontline against global totalitarianism. My uncle came here – he proudly said to the people of Germany, Ich bin ein Berliner. And today, all those of us who are here today can proudly say once again, Ich bin ein Berliner. Because you are the frontline against totalitarianism.
I’m going to say one more thing. They haven’t done a very good job about protecting public health. But they’ve done a very good job at using the quarantine to bring 5G into all of our communities. And to begin the process of shifting us all to a digital currency, which is the beginning of slavery. Because if they control your bank account, they control your behaviour. And we all see these advertisements on television saying 5G is coming to your community. It’s gonna be a great thing for all of you, it’s gonna change your lives, it’s gonna make all of your lives so much better. And it’s very convincing I have to say because I look at those ads and I think it’s great, I can hardly wait til it gets here. And because I’m going to be able to download a video game in 6 seconds instead of 16 seconds. And is that why they’re spending 5 trillion dollars on 5G? No. The reason is, for surveillance and data-harvesting. It’s not for you and me. It’s for Bill Gates, it’s for Mark Zuckerberg and Jeffrey Bezos. And all of the other billionaires. Bill Gates says that his satellite fleet will be able to look at every square inch of the planet 24 hours a day. But that’s only the beginning. He’ll also be able to follow you on all of your smart devices, through biometric facial recognition, through your GPS. You think that Alexa is working for you? She isn’t working for you. She’s working for Bill Gates [edit: it's Bezos, not that it matters] spying on you.
And the pandemic is a crisis of convenience for the elites who are dictating these policies. It gives them the ability to obliterate the middle class, to destroy the institutions of democracy, to shift all of our wealth from all of us to a handful of billionaires to make themselves rich by impoverishing the rest of us. And the only thing between them and our children is this crowd that has come to Berlin! We’re telling them today you are not going to take away our freedom, you are not going to poison our children, we are going to demand our democracy back.
Thank you all very much for fighting!’ (applause)

source https://www.marktaliano.net/robert-f-kennedy-jr-fighting-against-global-totalitarianism-in-berlin-video-the-liberty-beacon/

EDIT: the Goering citation is famous: "Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

interviewer: "There is one difference. In a democracy, the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

Göring: "Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

direct report from a friend in berlin says about 2 million attendees. Let's say it's overstated by 50%. That is still a long way from 5000. Remember this next time you base your opinion off mainstream media.

Qualified Immunity Is a Disgrace, No Matter Where You Live

Posted by Runaway1956 on Friday August 28 2020, @11:21PM (#5979)
34 Comments
News

Whether police officers are granted qualified immunity—the legal doctrine that makes it considerably more difficult to sue civil servants who violate your rights—largely depends on where the offense occurred, and thus where it's litigated in court, according to a recent Reuters investigation.

But even in the courts that try to hold public servants to a higher standard, officers routinely receive qualified immunity for conduct that shocks the conscience.

Judges in the Fifth Circuit—which covers Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana—"are more likely to prioritize police power over citizens' rights and liberties," Reuters reports. That deference to the state doesn't stop at the police. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently granted qualified immunity to a group of prison guards who forced a naked inmate, Trent Taylor, to stay in two squalid cells, one with "massive amounts of human feces" and the other with raw sewage overflowing on the floor. Though the judges on that panel acknowledged that Taylor's Eighth Amendment rights had been violated, they granted the group qualified immunity on the basis that the precise amount of time the inmate spent in those cells—six days—had not been spelled out in pre-existing case law.

Alternatively, the Ninth Circuit, which covers California, Washington state, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, "has set a higher bar for police," granting qualified immunity in 42 percent of excessive force complaints. But even that appeals court has awarded qualified immunity in some head-scratching cases.

In 2019, for instance, the Ninth Circuit gave qualified immunity to Los Angeles police officer Michael Gutierrez who, without warning, shot a 15-year-old boy as he was preparing to make his way to school. The teen's friend was holding a plastic Airsoft gun replica. "Under the circumstances, a rational finder of fact could find that Gutierrez's use of deadly force shocked the conscience and was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment," the Ninth Circuit wrote. But that wasn't enough. "Because no analogous case existed at the time of the shooting, we hold that the district court erred in denying Gutierrez qualified immunity for this claim."

https://reason.com/2020/08/28/qualified-immunity-is-a-disgrace-no-matter-where-you-live-reuters/