1984 Is So Here

This seems impossible, but it is on "The Atlantic" website....unless it's a pretty neat hoax.

Apparently, it is now a CRIME to unlock your smartphone (the one you bought....your property), so that you can use it with any carrier you want.

Now, does that seem a bit draconian?

Ya think?

Has this been updated? Revised? Revoked?

How is this possible? 

The Gunslinger

UPDATE:  Another Source.

Un-Fucking-believable.

I just made it under the wire - NOT A FELON! Yipee!

I bought my smartphone through T-Mobile, the worst of all possible carriers. I worked with them from the beginning to actually get signal to my house. When it proved impossible, the "grace period" for cancelling my contract had barely passed, and they refused to let me out of it without demanding a termination fee. 

THE FACT THAT I ONLY WANTED TO CANCEL BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT PROVIDE THE SERVICE DESIGNATED IN THE CONTRACT TO WHICH THEY ALSO WERE A PARTY....didn't matter to them. They had me on timing, regardless of the fact that they had never fulfilled their part of the contract: TO PROVIDE ME WITH SERVICE at my residence.

They also refused to give me the unlock code for the smartphone I had, which was tied to their network.

So. T-Mobile could not provide service. Yet, would not allow me to cancel the contract without penalties, and insisted on making my smartphone useless to me.

They're REAL ASSHOLES.

Happily, I purchased my phone before the effective date of this freedom-crushing law, and was able to purchase an unlock code from a third party and now have a functioning smartphone on another network, that actually provides service. 

AT&T. They should get credit for good service and good signal. Even as T-Mobile should be cast into the sea and forgotten by history.

Except as an example of how NOT to run a company.

So, anyway, given my experience...this fucked up law would have made my VERY EXPENSIVE phone nothing more than a doorstop. Would have forced me to buy another VERY EXPENSIVE phone in order to get the service I originally contracted for with T-Mobile...but never got.

So the government is now in league with T-Mobile to fuck the next sucker out of service, signal, termination fee, and phone.

Nice.

Goodbye, sweet America.

How did is come to this?

/Gun

SECOND UPDATE:

Isn't there an opportunity here? Start a company that sells unlocked phones directly to consumers...with the guarantee that they can take them anywhere, to any carrier, to any network at any time.

I like it. If you make it happen before I do, great. More competition, the lower the prices go.

Let's get on that!

/Gun
 

The Real State of the Union

Okay, this here is just out-and-out theft. But I can't figure out a better way to get these particularly pithy and important contributions to the conversation in front of you.

Just pointing at the page is too general, these can get lost in the shuffle

...so I hope they forgive me...

This conversation begins talking about watching YDBT (YouDidn'tBuildThat) giving the SOTU address the other night.

_________________________________________________________

Grzmlyk

I watched it for as long as I could stand that piece of fecal matter, which was about five minutes.

What blows me away isn't what a callow, bigoted, ignorant, angry, self-absorbed, delusional, mean-spirited, character-free, pathological, lying narcissist he is.

It is that anybody - ANYBODY ON THIS PLANET over the age of 11 - cannot see through this malevolent non-entity.

Any adult (or even teenager) who does not see what Obama is really shouldn't be allowed to dress themselves in the morning, much less go out into the world.

I realize that people hitch their wagon to his "star" because they share his juvenile view of the world, or because they believe his being black trumps all else, or because they, too, are vandals who want to destroy this country, or because they are crooks who in one way or another make their living off of the rape of the Americans who make this country work.
But these are NOT the people who should be citizens of this country. Perhaps we should deport the 51% of MORONS who voted for a piece of sewage for president to their own desert island so they can destroy each other and let us continue to execute the blueprint the founding fathers so wisely laid out.

Anthony

I'm afraid it's going to come to that Grzmlyk, civil war, winners takes all, losers get booted the hell out of America.

KennesawJack

Nope. Fracturing is what's going to happen. There will be the Old America (us) and the New Amerika (them). There will be a mass migration of the takers to Amerika and a mass migration of the producers to America - assuming Amerika lets them leave.

Grzmlyk

But they know deep down that without "makers," the "takers" aren't long for this earth. That's the dirty little truth of socialism. Or, to paraphrase Margaret Thatcher's, eventually, you run out of other people's money.

Socialism is slavery - a parasitic economic system; once it kills the host, it dies shortly thereafter, and these liars know this.

KennesawJack

Grz, except for the fact of the abject stupidity of our particularly American brand of takers, you would be correct. Our takers will believe anything their messiah tells them. They will gladly go waltzing off to the gulags.

  Grzmlyk

Seems to me these bastards on the left would jump at the chance to go off and create their little pristine, hug-filled Utopia in which equality for EVERYBODY (everybody except each and every one of THEM, of course) reigns supreme, a world of unselfish perfection unsullied by the selfish greed of free marketers, a world in which childish dreams are unpunctured by the pin-prick of an adult world view.

But what fun would that be? The real joy of being a leftist isn't the promise of multiculturalism or social/economic/racial justice or everybody paying their "fair share" or even the apotheosis of professional victims.

If you're a leftist, The real joy of being a leftist is grinding other people under their boo theel. Subjugating other people to their will. Coercion. Bullying. Hurting. That's what gets your average, run-of-the-mill leftist up in the morning. Just look at the history of troll comments here. Without exception, they reveal hatred, grotesque fetishizing of power and an unbridled sense that, as long as they say the right things, they have a Gaia-given right to bust a few heads.

It's too bad so many Americans enjoy lying supine before a lash wielded by sadists intoxicated by the smell of blood.

 ___________________________________________

 This last by Grzmlyk is a variation on my belief that all Progressives are incipient Mass Murderers. and D.C. Clothesline's iteration of the argument.

And that part in RED is exactly what I think of the Left. They enjoy hurting others. They are actually EVIL. Spawn of Satan if you believe in that sort of thing. And like all other undisciplined, appetite-driven men, they will indulge their pleasures and vices with a single-mindedness that otherwise might be admirable. They. Will. Never. Stop.

They are like rapists and pedophiles. Their happiness REQUIRES the pain and suffering of others. And they are as insensitive to it as both.

They are like addicts of the most addictive drugs. They can never get enough. But worse than drug addicts who usually understand that what they are doing is destructive and evil, Progressives have convinced themselves that their sick, destructive appetites are actually good for those they consume, assault, destroy, impoverish, enslave.

No simple criminal will ever do as much harm to individual men, or to mankind as this plague of Progressive locusts.

/Gun

They WILL Kill You

May I reiterate a point I made a bit ago?

Maybe it's the drone white paper. Killing Americans willy-nilly because some "highly informed" political official deems them dangerous, or it's too "burdensome" for government to get, you know, judicial or Congressional review...

Progressives will always end up mass murdering their fellow citizens.

Let me say that again.

PROGRESSIVES ALWAYS END UP MASS MURDERING THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS.

The only exceptions are those that are blessedly removed from office before they are able to gather enough power to execute such orders.

Progressives are collectivists are socialists are communists are tyrants & dictators.

PROGRESSIVES ALWAYS END UP MASS MURDERING THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS.

When I say the names Stalin, Hitler, Mao, today's Progressive apologists say something like, "Oh, they were monsters, OUR progressives-collectivists-socialists-communists aren't doing that!"

Well, Stalin didn't do it either. Until he could. Then he did.
Lenin didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Hitler didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Pol Pot didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Castro didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Che Guevera didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Mao didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Ho Chi Min didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.
Kim Jong Il didn't do it. Until he could. Then he did.

Woodrow Wilson didn't do it, because there was that pesky Constitution, that back then, people actually believed in. (Trust me. It's the only reason he didn't.) He DID put people in prison for speaking out against the war or his government. Because he could.

Franklin Roosevelt didn't do it. But he did put thousands of Americans into concentration camps. Because he could.

Barack Øbama's just starting slow. He's picking off individual fellow-citizens in other countries. (And, of course, anyone else who happens to get caught in the line of fire.) Because he can.

Can he? Are we really going to allow that? Are we really going to permit this?

PROGRESSIVES ALWAYS END UP MASS MURDERING THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS.

It's a law of nature.
It's the logical conclusion of their way of thinking.

In the beginning a progressive will lie, cheat, steal, destroy, smear, ruin, in order to force his vision of "utopia" down the throats of people who don't want it. Because he believes he knows better than they.

A progressive will continue to use the same tactics throughout his life. What others want or prefer means nothing to him. He has decided what's best for others and will move the world to make sure it is imposed upon them.

As his power increases, his tactics become more overt, aggressive and violent.

And of course, any threat to his power is a threat to the "good of the collective" and the Utopian dream. And it must be mercilessly snuffed out for the good of all.

In order to impose his will on everyone else, it is necessary to rule them all with a iron fist. And ultimately the only way to do that is to use extreme violence.

And there will always be some troublesome people who are just ruining it for everybody else. Who just won't go along. Who are dissenters and disrupters. Enemies of the peace. Enemies of the people. Enemies of the collective and their dreams of Utopia.

And for the dream to survive and come to fruition, such people must be eliminated.

It's the law of the nature of Progressives.

It's evident in their ready impulse to silence voices that disagree with them. An example is their enthusiasm for a Talk-Radio "Fairness Doctrine". The fact that there is one place in the culture that actually has the audacity to speak full-throated Conservatism/Libertarianism is utterly unacceptable to them.

That Academia, the entire Media, all of Entertainment, and the Music industry (with the exception of some country singers) are in lockstep with their Progressive propaganda is not good enough. No one must be allowed to dissent. There must be NO voices questioning their message. All other voices must be silenced. All enemies must be neutralized.

It's evident in their PC charges of "racism" "homophobia", designed for no other reason than to shut opposition down. To shut you up.

That's all Political Correctness is: Progressives' attempt to silence voices and ban ideas they don't like  and don't want anybody to hear.

And those behaviors, friends, are the first steps of the eventual Stalinian mass-murderer.

Yes. That's extreme. But it's also true.

Every progressive is an incipient mass murderer. Most just don't have the opportunity to mature into their full potential.

Progressives use whatever nasty bits of power and corruption they can accumulate. If it's a little, they smear you. If it's a lot, they kill you.

DO. NOT. DOUBT. ME.

The Gunslinger

Who They Really Are

Reposted from D.C.Clothesline.

Progressives are incipient mass murderers.
Do not doubt me.

Best Quote: "Their minds are not simply made up.  They’ve been given away. "

The Gunslinger

___________________________________________________

Stop Arguing; Start Arming
Posted on January 13, 2013 by seanmcconeghy
(at D.C. Clothesline)


Shortly after the election, former Ron Paul staffer Eric Dondero wrote a piece in which he declared Obama supporters his sworn enemies, “enemies of liberty” as he called them.  He cut off all contact with friends, neighbors, and relatives who backed the President’s reelection campaign, calling them “enemies of freedom”, and took his boycott to all areas of his life.  Like most others in the conservative/libertarian coalition, I didn’t think much of it, and dismissed his reaction as childish.  It wasn’t so much that I disagreed with his assessment of them, but after all, personal relationships transcend politics.  I was half wrong.

What I failed sufficiently to consider was the infinite gulf between how individualists and collectivists view the world.  Although many, including me, have generally thought of this primarily in terms of politics, the issues about which the talking heads shout on the news networks every night are merely a reflection of the real difference, not the difference itself.   The real difference is much more fundamental.

Consider for a moment just how many conservative/libertarian friends have cut off contact with you for political reasons.  There may be people with whom you speak less because of politics, but it is unlikely that you’ll find a person who solely for political reasons uttered the words, “I’m never speaking to you again.”  Now ask yourself the same question about leftists.  Chances are that number is considerably higher.  Understanding why that is the case is critically important moving forward.

Here is the inherent difference that we have not fully considered: conservatives and libertarians believe in the inherent rights and value of the individual.  To be sure, the two groups disagree on a whole host of issues, but those disagreements are simply different branches of the same tree.  For example, many conservatives oppose legal gambling because they believe it to be in conflict with the inherent dignity of the individual while libertarians generally support it based on the notion that such dignity requires that each person be able to make that choice for himself.

By contrast, leftists have no such respect for individual rights or dignity.  In their view, the world must operate according to what makes them feel good, or what seems “fair” to them.  That is why they view the Constitution not as a living document but as a moot one.  In their ideology, written rules and individual rights are passé.  The “enlightened” individual must submit himself to the collective, and those unwilling to do so must be ignored, mocked, defeated, or, if necessary, destroyed.

That difference is why you will generally find that leftists will cut off relationships with you for political purposes, but conservatives and libertarians generally will not.   Regardless of political differences, the latter treat people as individuals with inherent dignity.  A person is not simply a liberal, Democrat, or even Communist.  It’s Bob, and he has a job, a family, hobbies, goals, quirks, etc.  Leftists, however, viewing people as members of the collective, treat those who do not reinforce their views as evil.  There is no inherent human dignity.  Their friend or relative is not Bob but some archaic barbarian rube who is nothing more than an obstacle to “progress”.

Why is this important?

Over the last six or so years since now-President Obama began his campaign, his cult of personality has overtaken the left in a way that no previous President has done with a group of this size in US history.  Unlike Dondero, I will say that this doesn’t apply to all of the President’s voters, but certainly a critical mass of them.  With demoralization having long been completed and destabilization well under way, tens of millions of minds that have been turned to mush by an education system that makes them incapable of critical thinking have ceded their thought process wholesale to their messiah. You don’t find the anti-war protesters marching over Libya or Yemen.  The gun grabbers ignore Fast and Furious.

Many in the middle class praise the President for raising their taxes even after exalting him when he vowed not to do so.  Those who decried the Bush Administration’s Wall Street connections didn’t even blink when Obama put the same people in power.  Crickets all around as the President walks on water.

To be sure, it is critically important that we not make the same mistake the leftists have made.  We must be extremely careful to continue to respect the rights and dignity of individuals even if they themselves fail to do the same.  Doing otherwise would make us no better than them: we would defeat ourselves.

That said, beware.  Do not expect the same of them: their world view does not allow it.  Do not waste your time arguing with them: such attempts will be no more fruitful than arguing with those who say that fossils are Satan’s tricks.  Their minds are not simply made up.  They’ve been given away.  Finally, while our world view demands that we continue to respect them as individuals with dignity and rights, it would be foolhardy to think that these people would not turn on you in a heartbeat if their deity demanded it.  Be prepared for that moment.

British Progressive Society

Check this out. You'd better duct tape your head before you do....to keep it from exploding all over the place. Messy.

Who the fuck ARE these people?

Coming to (or already at) a government school near you. Get your children OUT of there!

I'm starting to think the best thing we can do to insure a free future is start our own private schools. All the smart politics in the world will not succeed if the people are stupid, psychologically damaged, ill-educated, dependent sheep.

The Gunslinger

To Sum Up....

Scandalously & remorselessly stolen outright from Kerr Mudgeon:

"When you’re in the Oval Office and you turn on the TV and see Greece going up in flames, the inevitable result of a country living beyond its means, and you decide that’s going to continue to be your economic role model, the best that can be said about you is that you’re stubborn, ignorant and irresponsible.

When you decide that the best way to go about getting re-elected is by pitting Americans against each other on the basis of race, class and religion, cynically turning this noble nation into a banana republic, you go from being just another Chicago hack with a leftwing agenda to joining the putrid ranks of demagogues and dictators."


. . . Columnist Burt Prelutsky

So, to sum up, we have as President of the United States a stubborn, ignorant, irresponsible, putrid demagogue & dictator. 

No argument here.

The Gunslinger

Nothing is Impossible

Here's one you might want to read:

The Executive Order Controversy. You might want to consider whether a stylish tinfoil hat is appropriate. The author wonders himself while he offers a creepy scenario, that, given the current occupant of the White House cannot be entirely disregarded.

"Yes, it is far-fetched, but it is also distressingly possible. The sad fact in America today is that we have a president so disdainful of our foundational law and freedoms as to make the far-fetched seem queasily reasonable.

The timing of this executive order is jarring, even if the specific changes to the order are not. The power it conveys is staggering and cannot be safely entrusted to a single branch of government, much less to a single man. The Congress needs to reassert control over the exercise and implementation of the Defense Production Act before it can be utilized by a power-hungry cabal of leftists eager to fundamentally transform America. There is a door no one has locked, and our home is not secure. Close the door, lock it, and throw away that key."

Nothing is impossible anymore. Nothing is beyond the pale. Nothing is unthinkable.

Think it all. Prepare for the worst. Sad.

The Gunslinger

Pathology in the White House

There is something beautiful about the simplicity and directness of this comment by Michael at American Thinker.  This is what people say when they are not gagged by political correctness...and the necessity of pretending friendship with a foul enemy. It is most refreshing.


It's also terrifying, considering this sociopath is president.

"Obama is the malignant spawn of the liberial socialism that gave the world 200 million deaths in the 20th century. There are three words that Obama cannot and will not utter: "I am responsible." As a malignant narcissist, his whole life has been nothing but a carefully contrived, orchestrated sham. Unfortunately, he is not the cause, but the fruit of the disease that has rotted this country from within. We must be sure to remove him from office in November, but more importantly, our country must open an internal dialogue with itself to address the fundamental causes that produced such a tyrant. Our society has millions of creatures like Obama, sapping our country's resouces, clogging our jails and prisions.

As a clinician, I see and care for people like him every day. Obama is not unique. He is remarkable only by position. Eventually, his handlers will tire of him and break and discard him when he is no longer useful. Unless we strip away the masks of deception and deceit that propelled him into office, we will have more people like him to damage and ruin this country. We must root out and destroy the cause of this disease, not just treat the symptoms."

You can find it here.

The Gunslinger

Proved: Liberal Intolerance

Obviously not a surprise to anyone who knows liberals well. (or....[*cough*]...used to be one!)

The delightful title of the piece sums it all up: "Online, liberals far less tolerant than normal people"

The Gunslinger

Fluke Welfare Queen

Great take on the Fluke at American Spectator

The Gunslinger

Through the Moral Looking Glass

I remain ambivalent about abortion. But there is no ambivalence about the pure evil of these "ethicists" and their "moral" argument for actual infanticide on demand.

How did it come to this?

The Gunslinger

Killing Christ

You think I'm....

Never mind. You get the idea:

"When the attacks on freedom of speech and religious liberty are coupled with the dangerously imprecise National Defense Authorization Law, the nation is faced with a poisonous mix that could well prove fatal to liberty.

If American Christians and others of faith, including those in the military, don't rise up against the tyrannous conduct of this administration, they shouldn't be surprised when their local priests, pastors, or chaplains are hauled away to prison for teaching what the Church believes."

Read the whole thing.

This foulness isn't defeated in November, we are totally screwed. And unless we get a real conservative to immediately start rolling back the worst of the asshole's offenses and outrages, we're screwed anyway.

The Left WILL NOT STOP. But we have not been vigilant.

And this is what happens.

Evil does not rest....so neither can righteousness.

The Gunslinger

Headlines on Drudge Today...

Connect the fucking dots...

Obama Justice, FBI Intensify Probes Into Murdoch

Federal Court Rules California's (voter passed) Ban on Gay Marriage Unconstitutional

Administration Names Official Advocate for Illegal Immigrants

"Occupy" Supporters to Host Glitzy NYC Fundraiser for Obama

Gas Prices to spike  60¢ or more by May (2012)

Army Tries to Silence Chaplains (about Obama attack on Catholic Church)


Girls, 13, Fitted with Contraceptive Implants at School

Reid to Lead Second Effort to Expand Executive Branch Authority Over Internet

Big Labor Plans "Occupy" Mischief for CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference)

FBI Warns of threat from Anti-Government "extremists".

NYT: U.S. Contitution "Loses Appeal With People Around the World", because it "Doesn't Protect Entitlement to Food, Education & Healthcare"

I'd say "Goodbye Sweet America", but she's already gone.

The Gunslinger

Best Description

"Capitalism harnesses human self-interest.  Socialism exhausts itself

trying to kill it. 

Leftist politicians, who seize and dole-out other  people's

assets, initially see themselves as humanitarians.  

Eventually,  they

conclude they are a superior class, and treat themselves accordingly. 

They  make

laws to which they are not subject.  They vote themselves, and their

stooges, exclusive privileges and benefits.  

They no longer 'serve.'   They rule!"

-- Bowles

Stupid Things...

...you have to believe to be in favor of gun control:


"That a woman raped and strangled with her panties is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet."

"That an intruder will be incapacitated by tear gas or oven spray, but if shot with a .44 Magnum will get angry over your retaliation and kill you."

"That a 90 LB woman attacked by a 300 LB rapist and his 300 LB buddy, has the "right" to kill them in self defense, provided she uses her bare hands."

"That one should judge all gun owners by the acts of a few criminals, just like one should judge all blacks by the acts of a few inner-city crack dealers."

"That most people are seething cauldrons of potential violence who cannot be trusted with a gun, but most people are so decent that there is no need to carry a weapon for defense."

"That 83 million gun owners are "extremists," and the 50,000 members of the Million Moron March are "the majority."



Lots more here.

Halloween is Coming

True Dat

k962 said:

"The mob will not only eat the rich, but they will come after everybody else next. If you own a nice home, they will argue that this not just! Other people don't have nice homes why should you? "We want Social Justice" ! The socialist mob will never be satisfied!

Will We Survive?

This is very distressing. We'd better get ready. The Left will not tolerate our survival.

Honestly, I don't know what to do. For me, in Kaliførnia, it doesn't matter, there is hardly a conservative to target. But one of the things I cling to for mental and emotional stability and comfort, is that elsewhere in the country, in Red States...there are people, regular American Voters who elect the Right people.

And it is my fervent hope that they continue to do so, so that when I can get the fuck out of here...I can go to one of those places and live among "my people".

When I see them targeted in what one thinks of as "safe" places, by loathsome fanatics with bottomless treasuries at their disposal, and armies of mindless, lurching zombies...I despair.

I despair.

The Gunslinger

Kaliførnication II

California Congressman Tom McClintock:

"Of course, in spite of all of its problems, California is still one of the best places in the country to build a successful small business. All you have to do is start with a successful large business."

Ouch.

The Gunslinger

Sociopaths All

American Thinker on Obey-Me. Great piece about the psychology of the Left

"Malignant narcissism and self-glorification is the mass neurosis of the radical Left."