steve2470
steve2470's JournalFlorida man regularly walks on beaches with AR-15 to prove a point
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/florida/os-ne-florida-man-regularly-walks-on-beaches-with-ar-15-to-prove-a-point-20210719-nnrjrudhbbh3hg7jeefsl5df6y-story.htmlTaylor, proprietor of a YouTube channel called The Armed Fisherman, has for three years traveled Florida with his fishing pole, flag and weapons. He almost always provokes a police response, which he gladly uploads. The videos get tens of thousands of views, part of an online ecosystem of so-called civil-rights auditors, who invite and film confrontations with police and other officials.
Openly carrying firearms is illegal in Florida, but state law makes a few exceptions, including one that allows open-carry while hunting, camping or fishing, and while going to and from those activities. Taylor tests this law time and again.
Hes made hundreds of videos. Hes been handcuffed dozens of times. Occasionally, he gets arrested, though he says hes never been convicted of committing a crime while auditing. (A Tampa Bay Times background check did not turn up any convictions.)
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But Taylor doesnt mention the people who werent happy to see him.
Not the people on the beach giving him a wide berth. Not the frightened children a group of junior lifeguards who fled just as police arrived, according to their report. Not the beach safety supervisor who called the police, nor the lifeguard who feared for his safety and called his boss, nor the worried woman who complained to the lifeguard in the first place.
If I saw this SOB on the beach with that gun when my son was small, I damn sure would have called 911 also (that was in the article, trimmed to fit DU limits). Sorry, I cannot endorse that tactic whatsoever.
MAGA-Branded 'Freedom Phone' Is a Black Box That Should Be Avoided at All Costs
Note: I am guessing 0.00% of the regulars who frequent DU and CHaS will buy one of these phones. Maybe a few lurkers will. I am posting this because, undoubtedly, you will hear about these from your MAGA-loving relatives and friends.
https://gizmodo.com/maga-branded-freedom-phone-is-a-black-box-that-should-b-1847299215
Be it Parler, Gab, or GETTR, recent times have seen no shortage of dollar-sign-eyed entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on conservative Americas disdain for liberal Silicon Valley. It was only a matter of time before someone tried to invent the MAGA phone.
Er, make that...the Freedom Phone. The device, which launched Thursday, is the product of Erik Finman, a 22-year-old crypto-millionaire who says that he wants Americas patriots to take back control of their lives from the tech oligarchy. Finmans phone, which costs $499, claims to offer conservatives a way to be free of Big Techs spying and censorshipthough it is radically vague on the details. Like a random handgun, the phone should be treated as if it were loaded and dangerous because we simply dont know whats in the chamber.
Freedom Phone claims that it can protect users from the data collection that comes with an iOS or Android operating system (it has something called a FreedomOSwhich, ironically, just appears to be a modified version go Googles Android OS). The phone is also meant to liberate users from Big Techs alleged ideological preferences: it has an uncensorable app store (called the PatriApp, lol), where it is apparently impossible for apps to get booted no matter how unsafe or horrendous they are.
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The funny thing is, if Trump voters are looking for a way to get off the Big Tech grid, theres no need for them to buy this sketchy shit. There are actually entire subcultures within the phone industry dedicated to escaping the Android/iOS paradigm. You can wade into the de-Googled phone sector, for instancewhere Android phones are sold that have ostensibly been refurbished to rid the devices of code that will send your personal data back to the tech giant. Theres also the Linux-based Pinephone, which sells at a fraction of the Freedom Phones cost (between $150 and $200), and is a favorite of those in the privacy community. All of these come with caveats, obviously, but the point is that there are much more transparent and affordable options than the Freedom Phone.
Bottom line, the MAGA crowd is being scammed. I know we're all upset about that /sarcasm off.
See this review for another opinion (basically the same): https://thenextweb.com/news/freedom-phone-anatomy-maga-scam
Iceland has a monument to " The Unknown Bureaucrat " in Reykjavik
https://goo.gl/maps/tNZxu8m2VnGGtf6b9https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monument-to-the-unknown-bureaucrat
There, next to a duck pond, stands a statue of a man wielding a briefcase, walking toward city hall. Its a common everyday sight; a depiction of the everyday faceless city officials on their way to work. However, this official is a bit different from its living inspirations, as it is literally faceless.
A large slab of Icelandic volcanic basalt sits where you would expect to see a torso and head. The unique statue was sculpted by Magnús Tómasson in 1994, and youll have to decide for yourself whether it was meant as a serious tribute, or a humorous, satirical piece.
Monuments to an unknown soldier are common around the globe, but as Iceland has no standing army, perhaps a tribute to the civilians who serve their country is the next best thing.
Talk about a monument perfect to enrage Grover Norquist and libertarians
A touch of despair after talking to my neighbor...
As a MHS host, I try hard to avoid politics in this forum. However, we are *mainly* at DU to discuss politics, so it's not a huge stretch to mention it in here.
Why did I feel a touch of despair after talking to my neighbor ? First, some background. I have known this guy for almost 8 years. He has been unfailingly kind and neighborly to me during that time. He is a good man, overall. Just for context, he is a 75 year old Caucasian male from the south.
During our conversation about my upcoming trip, for some reason he mentioned that he now watches OANN because, paraphrased, CNN and CBS etc. do not give him the full truth. Thank god I kept my mouth shut during that extraneous comment.
I know I *should* not feel any despair from this one encounter, but it just amazes me that this man, who is pretty intelligent, would reject the standard crazy KoolAid of Fox and go to the hardcore heroin craziness of OANN. As we all know, there's thousands and thousands more like him.
That's all. Most of you can probably identify with that encounter. I wish you well.
Steve
Per Mayo Clinic, only 46.7% of Florida is fully vaccinated
See page 2 of this site: https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker. 54.6% have at least one shot.
Vermont can take some pride at 66.2% fully vaccinated, and 74.4% at least one shot.
Alabama has only 33.2% fully vaccinated. Can we say Fox/Trump/anti-vax brainwashing at large ?
Amazon's Latest Attempt to Be Hip is a Monthly Vinyl Subscription Service
https://www.reviewgeek.com/91130/amazons-latest-attempt-to-be-hip-is-a-monthly-vinyl-subscription-service/The service, simply dubbed Vinyl of the Month Club, will send you one essential album every month from the 1960s or 1970s, or as Amazon calls it the Golden Era of Vinyl. Supposedly, the monthly vinyl is hand selected by Amazon Musics experts, but no further details on that are shared, so who knows.
The website does, however, list artists like Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Pink Floyd, ABBA, Miles Davis, and Fleetwood Mac. So, a lot of the standards, not much else. Amazon does suggest the service as a gift for the newbie collector, billing it as Perfect for the music lover whos just fallen for analog sound. The service lets you skip a month if needed, but doesnt offer any more features or personalization beyond that, like tailoring the service to your preferred genres or opting for music outside those two decades.
Amazons Vinyl of the Month club is far from the most robust way to bolster your vinyl library, but it might be a decent (albeit slow) option for beginner collectors or anyone looking to fill in the gaps of their own collection. Also, why the service isnt crazy expensive, you can still find plenty of great records online from these stores for a fraction of the price.
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Gender: Do not displayMember since: Sat Oct 16, 2004, 01:04 PM
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