Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
Guy Fawkes
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament
Three score barrels of powder below
Poor old England to overthrow
By God’s providence he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring
Holler boys, holler boys
God save the King!
Category: IMO
Gun Ownership – with Education
When it comes to gun ownership, legal ownership, it should be treated like a Drivers License – to a degree.
This is what I mean.
- Want to buy a gun?
- Get schooled on gun safety, use and maintenance
- Be tested and pass on 1.1
- Pass a background check to ensure you’re not a loon.
- Buy & register your gun and use it in private or on a designated shooting range.
- Want to carry your gun in public?
- Get defensive gun training
- Get schooled on laws and regulation in your area
- Be tested and pass on 2.1 and 2.2
- Get your permit for pubic carry
- Repeat 2.1 thru 2.4 every 5-10 years to renew your public carry permit
Cars are dangerous weapons as well. And as such there are certain similar process everyone goes through in order to ensure everyone’s safety. And it’s not to different than what I’ve outlined above for guns:
- Want to drive a car?
- Go to Driver’s Education Class covering driving, laws, and personal fitness
- Be tested in driving, the laws, and general personal fitness (reading, eyes, etc)
- Get your Driver’s License
- Repeat 2.2 thru 2.3 every 5-10 years to renew your Driver’s License
As with owning a car, you don’t need a license to own a gun. You just need to register both of them. You DO need a license if you wish to use either in public.
Too many times, however, guns are bought by people who don’t know how to use, store, or care for them. And this can result in accidently injuries and deaths. So this is where I think gun ownership should require basic schooling and testing.
Carry permits also need to be a little tighter. Just passing addition background checks are not enough. Training and education should be required for defensive use and transporting (on your body, in your car, etc.) as well as laws and regulations for carrying. And testing on those points should be regularly conducted to retain that permit – just as with a Driver’s License.
Guns will NEVER be eliminated from the US, and if they are, only criminals will have them – leaving citizens as helpless victims of robbery, abduction, assault, etc. And as we all know: When seconds count, the police are minutes away.
Raspberry Pi Foundation Hypocrisy
Short post, but indicative of the truth “Never Trust What People Say. Trust What They Do“
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity with the mission to enable young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/about/
Here is some information on the current problems with supply and how we are allocating the current production….Of the production, a large percentage goes to industrial/commercial customers, as they need this to stay in business.
https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=338333
Clearly their “Mission Statement” is just empty words as the Individuals /educators /students, those who brought life and support to their product from the very beginning, are left ignored and forgotten in favor of corporate greed. Why are hobbyist/educational boards in extremely short supply when the Pico, CM4 and CM3, which are designed for embedded computing, much easier to find? Simple:
Drop production of the hobbyist boards so you can increase production of imbedded boards to feed industrial/commercial demand at much higher profit margins of selling & shipping in bulk.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is just full of Bullshit.
Belief vs. Truth vs. Fact vs. Lie
I’m not a philosopher. I don’t even play one on TV. But I do have my own opinions, which according to our First Amendments Rights, and despite the current Cancel Culture, I am free to express.
So here are my definitions of Belief, Truth, Fact and Lie.
Belief
An individual person’s opinion derived from their own person experiences and education and without evidence or collaboration. Example:
“I believe there is a cow outside”. There is no evidence of this. That person has not gone outside, looked outside or heard a cow mooing outside. There is no collaboration (with evidence of it), but that person believes what they say. They are not lying.
Truth
A belief supported by evidence and/or collaboration from the view of the individual(s) holding that same belief. Example:
“There is a cow standing on that hill outside”. That person can see that cow. Others can see that same cow. Visual evidence supports that it is a cow. This is a true statement, and not a lie.
Fact
A truth that has been tested, re-tested and agreed upon by a majority of people and not dispelled by reasonable objective argument. Example:
“The cow outside is actually a cardboard cutout”. The Truth of those who think it is a real cow is not disputed. Their Truth, without knowledge of additional physical evidence, is still their Truth and not a Lie for them. But after additional testing and evidence (examining, touching, testing), the Fact is the cow is not real, but instead made of cardboard.
Lie
A Lie is a statement made, verbally or in writing, that contradicts your Belief. You cannot lie about a Truth or a Fact. Examples:
“The world is flat”. If you truly Believe this, then it is not a Lie, despite it contradicting a known Fact.
“The world is round”. If you truly Believe that the world is flat, than this is a Lie, despite it agreeing with a known Fact.
Note
Notice that Fact is based on tests, objective analysis and a Majority Agreement on the results. It should never be taken that Facts are indelible, permanent, unchanging. They can still be wrong. Future evidence can disprove long held facts: The atom is the smallest unit of matter, the Earth is the center of the universe, time is constant, etc.
There are no absolutes
Gina Carano – WTF?
For those of you social media zealots, if you thought this was going to be more bashing of Gina Carano, you are sooooo wrong.
First off, we have something called the First Amendment. You should read it (or get the Audio Book if you’re illiterate). It secures our freedom of speech. We can write, and say, just about anything we like/believe/wish without the fear of Government Censorship. And while this does not cover private business censorship, as long as someone does their job and does not call out the assassination of another person (that’s for the TLA agencies to do), it should NEVER impact positively or negatively a person’s life or career.
In other words: If you don’t like what someone else Says/Writes/Thinks, just as you have a right to disagree and argue, so do they! You (plural) have NO RIGHT to push for their dismissal in their work or personal life – unless they are an Elected Official (more on that later).
Freedom of Speech is essential for a Democracy, and last I checked the USA still was one. If you wish a Dictatorship, Fascism, or Autocratic rule, the just keep canceling those you don’t agree with. You’ll get there soon enough. Or just move to China, Russia or North Korea.
Freedom of Speech allows all non-violent opinions to be heard so that we can all understand one another and come together on common ground. Otherwise we all stand divided and will never be able to cooperate to build a better society.
Now, IMO, the only time citizens are allow to ‘Cancel’ another person is with an Elected Official. If they Do or Say something that you do not agree within their job, then by all means, work to Cancel them from their Elected Post – Legally. After all, they are not doing the job you expected of them, and voted for them to do (providing you actually voted).
As for non-politicians: Actors (like Gina Carano), Writers (like J.K. Rowlings), Athletes (IDGAS about Athletes), etc., those peoples’ work does not cover political or social leadership. They don’t drive Policy, Law or Governance. And if/when they express views outside their Career (whatever they may be) just Fucking Ignore Them. Please. They’re just entertainers. If they screw up in their industry, they’ll get canceled soon enough. They shouldn’t be ‘Canceled’ just because they believe different that you.
Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore