The National Rifle Association has rallied gun-owners — and raised tens of millions of dollars — campaigning against the threat of a national database of firearms or their owners.
But in fact, the sort of vast, secret database the NRA often warns of already exists, despite having been assembled largely without the knowledge or consent of gun owners. It is housed in the Virginia offices of the NRA itself. The country’s largest privately held database of current, former, and prospective gun owners is one of the powerful lobby’s secret weapons, expanding its influence well beyond its estimated 3 million members and bolstering its political supremacy.
Others in the business of big political data, however, say the NRA is using similar tools to those employed by the campaigns of its nemesis, President Barack Obama.
While the organization took great umbrage in December when a newspaper published the names and addresses of gun owners in two New York counties, the group for years as been gathering similar information via the same public records as a matter of course.
In Virginia, for instance, a North Carolina-based firm called Preferred Communications filed an inquiry with the Virginia State Police in July 2009 asking “on behalf of the National Rifle Association” as to whether the names of concealed-carry permit holders could be purchased. The e-mail was obtained by BuzzFeed by Freedom of Information Act request.
“After people take a class, then you as an instructor, can send all their names to Washington and you get credit for that,” Weisser said. “If you can show you’ve taught enough classes, you can move up in the hierarchy as an NRA trainer.”
Moving up in the hierarchy can mean being licensed to teach more types of gun safety classes and being able to charge more, he said.
Obama wants you to believe that putting the federal government in the middle of every firearm transaction — except those between criminals — will somehow make us safer.
That means forcing law-abiding people to fork over excessive fees to exercise their rights. Forcing parents to fill out forms to leave a family heirloom to a loved one — standing in line and filling out a bunch of bureaucratic paperwork, just so a grandfather can give a grandson a Christmas gift. He wants to put every private, personal transaction under the thumb of the federal government, and he wants to keep all those names in a massive federal registry.
There are only two reasons for that federal list of gun owners — to tax them or take them.
That’s because section 103(i) of the Brady Act specifically bars federal agencies from retaining “any record or portion thereof generated by the [NICS] system,” and it prohibits the “registration of firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions” of those who pass the background check.
For this reason, the final rule was revised to conform to the legislative enactment setting a limit on how long the NICS may retain certain information on allowed transactions. The revised rule conformed to the 24-hour record retention provision in the Omnibus.
Just throwing this up - I heard a story on the BBC this morning about a poet that is offering his services on Craigslist for commission. He's made a few hundred bucks already.
So, Trisec is offering up all the Haiku you need for $5 a pop!
We'll write it for you
Ponder the meaning of it
Then write me a check.
Quote by wickedpam:
Morning
Well you know its all different because, you know, guns.
"I will be far more aggressive in my reporting from now. I am going to publish many more documents. I am going to publish things on England, too. I have many documents on England's spy system. I think they will be sorry for what they did," Greenwald, speaking in Portuguese, told reporters at Rio de Janeiro's airport where he met Miranda upon his return to Brazil.
Greenwald said in a subsequent email to Reuters that the Portuguese word "arrepender" should have been translated as "come to regret" not "be sorry for."
Quote by Raine:Right? Mind boggling.Quote by wickedpam:
Morning
Well you know its all different because, you know, guns.
Quote by Raine:
Jebus christo almighty.
arrepender
Greenwald takes insult at the reporting of his words:"I will be far more aggressive in my reporting from now. I am going to publish many more documents. I am going to publish things on England, too. I have many documents on England's spy system. I think they will be sorry for what they did," Greenwald, speaking in Portuguese, told reporters at Rio de Janeiro's airport where he met Miranda upon his return to Brazil.
Greenwald said in a subsequent email to Reuters that the Portuguese word "arrepender" should have been translated as "come to regret" not "be sorry for."
So I ask you, what is the difference between those two phrases?
"come to regret"
"be sorry for."
Greenwald claims to love free speech but he certainly has a problem with how people report on him. Hypocritical much Glenn?
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Jebus christo almighty.
arrepender
Greenwald takes insult at the reporting of his words:"I will be far more aggressive in my reporting from now. I am going to publish many more documents. I am going to publish things on England, too. I have many documents on England's spy system. I think they will be sorry for what they did," Greenwald, speaking in Portuguese, told reporters at Rio de Janeiro's airport where he met Miranda upon his return to Brazil.
Greenwald said in a subsequent email to Reuters that the Portuguese word "arrepender" should have been translated as "come to regret" not "be sorry for."
So I ask you, what is the difference between those two phrases?
"come to regret"
"be sorry for."
Greenwald claims to love free speech but he certainly has a problem with how people report on him. Hypocritical much Glenn?
gawd, he's a Mean Girl or maybe a Heather
Quote by Raine:He's a protecter of democracy like Sarah Palin.Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Jebus christo almighty.
arrepender
Greenwald takes insult at the reporting of his words:"I will be far more aggressive in my reporting from now. I am going to publish many more documents. I am going to publish things on England, too. I have many documents on England's spy system. I think they will be sorry for what they did," Greenwald, speaking in Portuguese, told reporters at Rio de Janeiro's airport where he met Miranda upon his return to Brazil.
Greenwald said in a subsequent email to Reuters that the Portuguese word "arrepender" should have been translated as "come to regret" not "be sorry for."
So I ask you, what is the difference between those two phrases?
"come to regret"
"be sorry for."
Greenwald claims to love free speech but he certainly has a problem with how people report on him. Hypocritical much Glenn?
gawd, he's a Mean Girl or maybe a Heather
Quote by Raine:
Jebus christo almighty.
arrepender
Greenwald takes insult at the reporting of his words:"I will be far more aggressive in my reporting from now. I am going to publish many more documents. I am going to publish things on England, too. I have many documents on England's spy system. I think they will be sorry for what they did," Greenwald, speaking in Portuguese, told reporters at Rio de Janeiro's airport where he met Miranda upon his return to Brazil.
Greenwald said in a subsequent email to Reuters that the Portuguese word "arrepender" should have been translated as "come to regret" not "be sorry for."
So I ask you, what is the difference between those two phrases?
"come to regret"
"be sorry for."
Greenwald claims to love free speech but he certainly has a problem with how people report on him. Hypocritical much Glenn?
Quote by Mondobubba:Speaking of GG and or the Guardian, the Gummit goons made us break or servers story is starting to leak like worm chewed wooden ship.
Quote by wickedpam:
Heard its good but never watched, I'll have to add it to my netflix - right after I finish my binges on Supernatural, Sherlock, Dexter, True Blood, Orphan Black .....
Quote by Raine:What is happening on the show is eerily paralleling what is happening wrt Greenwald. It's getting very good.Quote by wickedpam:
Heard its good but never watched, I'll have to add it to my netflix - right after I finish my binges on Supernatural, Sherlock, Dexter, True Blood, Orphan Black .....
Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Naw -- let's just say
I think it is a fair sentence.
Quote by wickedpam:
You what I just noticed? My view habits are a little on the bloody side , think I just scared myself .
Quote by Raine:That makes me sound like a Catholic Church...Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Quote by Raine:You just noticed that?Quote by wickedpam:
You what I just noticed? My view habits are a little on the bloody side , think I just scared myself .
Quote by Raine:
Speaking of phan girl/guy Where is Mondo and scoop?
Quote by Mondobubba:
Hmm, what? Somebody mentioned my name?
"When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system. A legal system that doesn't distinguish between leaks to the press in the public interest and treason against the nation will not only produce unjust results, but will deprive the public of critical information that is necessary for democratic accountability. This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it's also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate."
Quote by Raine:
ALCU issued a press release on the Manning sentence:I'm pissed that the torturers haven't gone to jail. I also don't believe that two wrongs"When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system. A legal system that doesn't distinguish between leaks to the press in the public interest and treason against the nation will not only produce unjust results, but will deprive the public of critical information that is necessary for democratic accountability. This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it's also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate."don;tmake a right.
One more sticky point: Manning was not convicted of treason.
I would like to note that it is possible to have several parallel thoughts on national security, detainment, journalism, and other topics in your brain at the same time.
Here are some things I believe, all at once:
1) I don’t believe in indiscriminate leaking of national security documents.
2) I believe that our government over classifies and keeps too much secret from us.
3) I don’t believe that just anyone has a right to declassify national secrets because they dislike secrecy.
4) I think that world governments have overreacted to terrorism and there is way too much surveillance and security theater at airports
5) But some airport counterterror measures make sense and people whine about them too much
6) Journalists aren’t special, in that if they traffic in illegal material I don’t think reporting on those illegally gained materials automatically makes you immune from all laws/prosecution
7) But journalists should always try to find the truth, but also be aware that people – officials or activists – who give you secrets often have their own agendas too
8) We have to kill terrorists
9) But we shouldn’t be stupid about how we do it.
10) Glenn Greenwald really likes a lot of attention, is prone to hyperbole, and has a martyrdom mentality.
Quote by Raine:I wanted to know if you have been watching The Newsroom.Quote by Mondobubba:
Hmm, what? Somebody mentioned my name?
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:I wanted to know if you have been watching The Newsroom.Quote by Mondobubba:
Hmm, what? Somebody mentioned my name?
Me no have the HBO.
Quote by Raine:That makes me sound like a Catholic Church...Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:That makes me sound like a Catholic Church...Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Our Good Lady of Del Ray. Just a bit of an edit to make it more Catholicly sounding.
Quote by Raine:May peace be with you my child.Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:That makes me sound like a Catholic Church...Quote by wickedpam:
oops, I defer to the Good Lady from the Del of Ray
Our Good Lady of Del Ray. Just a bit of an edit to make it more Catholicly sounding.
Quote by Mondobubba
Speaking of GG and or the Guardian, the Gummit goons made us break or servers story is starting to leak like worm chewed wooden ship.
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all.. <- espresso from my new cast iron perc pot!
I, like Mondo, do not have the HBO since I've made the choice not to subscribe to the cable/satellite ripoff.
However I do have my methods so I am quite caught up! I'm really close to achieving power user status so I can swing a invitation your way soon.
Quote by Scoopster:
Oh! As I mentioned on FB, I'm down another 6lbs since June, to 355. That's 25lbs down for the past year, although I was at 340 & bounced back up before moving.
Next thing is I gotta save up for a road bike. I'm close enough to work that I can just bike there & back instead of taking the bus. The game shop too.