Why Do You Trust Cloud Companies With Your Privacy and Security?

Louis Rossman is the owner of a PC/Phone repair service, and he runs a video channel - not limited to YouTube. I found him because he is an advocate of Right to Repair stuff you own. Today's video is about the oxymoron of Cloud Security.

Recently Wyze cameras had a "security incident" in which it let people see into cameras that they did not own. Literally seeing into other's home

Uploading your data to the cloud does not make it secure. As the people who have Wyze cameras have recently discovered, it may make you less secure. They were trusting that a bunch of people - interns? - at Amazon's Cloud service (AWS) and Wyze to get security right while they were rushing to recover from an outage.

I assume they were rushing because management never likes outages. Uptime is a metric, and if you don't know anything about tech you can measure uptime. And even if they were feeling time pressure, they still screwed up by the numbers.

This is Louis Rossman's video Wyze cameras let other people view her home: why cloud security is an oxymoron.

Why would anyone want to live in NYC today?

First, we have a random attack with a baseball bat on the streets of NYC Stranger bashes woman with baseball bat in apparently random NYC attack: cops

A stranger bashed a 25-year-old woman in the head with a baseball bat in an apparently unprovoked attack in Chelsea this month, cops said as they released the first images of the brute.

The victim was walking on Seventh Avenue near West 23rd Street around 10 p.m. Feb. 8 when the menace suddenly struck her with the weapon, authorities said.

They don't mention race, though they do show a photo - from security camera footage, so not the best - of the attacker.

The second story is of an assault on a New York City bus. Mom groped, slashed by unhinged creep on NYC bus unloads on Biden, Eric Adams for losing ‘control’ of city

A Bronx mother of two who was groped, then slashed by an unhinged man on a rush-hour MTA bus called out President Biden and Mayor Eric Adams — saying it’s on them to regain “control” of the city.

Stephanie Aquino, 33, told The Post that her harrowing ordeal had her praying that she’d see her 3-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter again.

Click thru for the details. This being NYC, where people are prosecuted for going to other peoples' aid, no one helped her beyond yelling warnings.

Just people randomly attacking other people with baseball bats and assaulting them on the bus. New York may have been an interesting place to live decades ago, or even years ago, but today it is just a lawless cesspit where the felons and the crazy people run free, and they are only interested in prosecuting people who defend themselves or other law-abiding citizens.

As these stories often do, these have reminded me of the poem "The Second Coming," by William Butler Yeats. The entire text of the poem, it isn't long, can be found at the link. The part I always think of is...

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

Create a Gun Free Zone and Assume Responsibility for Injuries Due to Crime

Most companies declare gun-free zones in an effort to limit liability. I wonder what impact this will have. Georgia Bill Makes Property Owners Liable for Injuries in Gun-Free Zones

Georgia House Bill 1364 makes property owners liable if a legal concealed carrier is harmed while barred from being armed for self-defense on the owner’s property.

HB 1364 says, “Any lawful weapons carrier who is prohibited from carrying… and who is injured… shall have a cause of action against the person, business or other entity that owns or legally controls such property,” according to 11 Alive.

So in Georgia you have the right to declare your property a legal-self-defense-free zone. Putting up a sign will not stop the bad guys from carrying weapons; it will only stop the law abiding citizens. Fine. But then you accept responsibility for the safety of the people you have disarmed. Seems right to me. (Hat tip to Keep and Bear Arms.)

Wednesday Link Roundup - 28 February

Pirate's Cove is first with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

1. LMAO features the latest Biden pronouncement
2. Legal Insurrection covers Haley losing SC badly

Political Hat - News of the Week (February 18th, 2024)

Climate Activists Are Evil
We are far beyond the point where climate activists could be regarded as misguided but well-meaning. They are evil, pure and simple.

EBL - Billy Walker: Samuel Colt

25 February 1836: Samuel Colt patents the revolver
EBL: Saturday Night Girls with Guns

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 02.26.24

Cafe Hayek: Phil Gramm and Me on the High Cost of the Trump-Biden Tariffs, also, On U.S. Global “Competitiveness”
CDR Salamander: The Military-Industrial Complex Wears A White Hat

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 25 February 2024: Replimication Edition

The replication crisis is an ongoing problem in science, and particularly in medicine and psychology, where peer-reviewed papers that supposedly have a 95% probability of demonstrating a real effect cannot be replicated between 50% and 90% of the time.

Don Surber - Highlights of the week

ITEM 4: Zero Hedge reported, “On Thursday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented Israel's security cabinet with a much anticipated document outlining plans for the day after Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 2/26/2024

Macron Holds Meeting in Paris to Rally European Support for Ukraine
The French president said Ukraine’s allies needed to ‘jump-start’ their support for Kyiv as the war enters its third year.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 02.27.24

Don Surber: Birdbrains in the press
First Street Journal: He can’t handle the truth! also, The Philadelphia Inquirer tells us about yet another government economic program that just didn’t work

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

The Planet Is Burning News: The climate alarmist attack dog.
Dementia Joe’s America: President Jill Biden. Will the left wing media dump Biden?

Bacon Time - Sunday Linkage

Whores & Ale - Two For Tuesday…..
Non-Original Rants - Saturday Meme Drop……
The Air Vent - The Will of the People

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

GMU Econ alum Paul Mueller writes about “the carbon offset dilemma.”
Art Carden asks if we should care if legacy media dies.

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

Kite & Key Media: Past Drug Crises Were Overhyped, Fentanyl Isn't
Fentanyl Is Killing American Kids. Most Don’t Even Know They’re Taking It.
The Biden administration’s aggressive net-zero agenda jeopardizes our quality of life

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 2/26/24

"If the left's out-of-control campaign to destroy Trump succeeds, it will forever poison the political system and spell doom for conservatism."
We’ve Reached The Tipping With Trump

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: "Psychological and Cognitive Warfare on Citizens"

• California’s Impossible War on Oil and Gas - Edward Ring
• There Are No Winners In An Inflation Fight - The Pomp Letter

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 02-25-24 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #1634 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, Memes that made me laugh 198 from Bayou Renaissance Man, and Fucking Mondays..... gifdump from Wirecutter.

Did He Not Expect People to Be Armed in Arkansas?

If he did, he was mistaken. Man shot by homeowner in Saline County | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Arkansas' Best News Source

Saline County, Arkansas is roughly 10 miles southwest of Little Rock.

A man was accosted as he walked out of his home. He shot the person who confronted him.

After a search of the area, deputies found the injured man, John Nutt of Little Rock, along with stolen property, and took Nutt into custody, the release says. Nutt was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, the release says.

After his release from the hospital, Nutt will face charges of residential burglary and aggravated assault

The cops do not expect to charge the homeowner, because this didn't happen on the Island of Manhattan, where self-defense is illegal. It happened in Arkansas where people don't play around. (Do a YouTube search on "Police Chase ASP" to see how the Arkansas State Police handle people who try to run from traffic stops. It isn't always pretty.)

Leftist Pepper Sprayed Pregnant Comedian

This is the tolerant Left in action. Chrissie Mayr Attacked After Comedy Show - Geeks & Gamers

I'm sure the Leftist who was 'offended' by the words uttered by Chrissie is sure they were being stunning and brave.

Unfortunately, the practice of attacking comedians over their jokes seems to be gaining traction. On February 24, 2024, Chrissie Mayr, who is known for her edgy brand of comedy, finished a performance at The Dojo of Comedy in Morris Plains, New Jersey, and while she was attending a meet and greet, someone assaulted her and some attendees with pepper spray and ran away. In an X post, which you can read below (if you’re unfamiliar with Chrissie Mayr’s humor, she uses some words that may offend you, so read with caution), she says that everyone appears to be okay, thankfully. Also, aside from this being a horrible thing to do to anyone, bear in mind that Chrissie Mayr is pregnant.

Chrissie Mayr is 7 or 8 months pregnant. And the Stunning and Brave Leftist - who didn't have the guts to be a heckler during the show - just sprayed pepper spray and ran away. So stunning, but maybe not so brave.

Hat tip to Jeremy at The Quartering.

I've Got The World On A String

Social Media is OK if you can avoid the morass. I try to stick (as much as possible) to the music and movie corners of the various social media platforms. It isn't always possible to avoid the politics, but then I usually come to my senses and sign off for a while.

Anyway, it was by way of social media that I was reminded of this song.

I always loved Sinatra, and I even saw him live in concert once, but that was when he was much older, and his voice had begun to suffer some changes. It was still an amazing show.

This is "I've Got The World On A String" by Frank Sinatra. It was originally released as a single, then included on the 1956 compilation album album This Is Sinatra!

I Need Your Help Diagnosing Problems With YouTube Embedded Videos

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone for your help. I'm still not completely sure what the problem was - probably something on my side together with something done at YouTube. They really hate anything that looks like privacy, and the newer versions of Firefox are all about privacy. And as I mentioned in the comments, they really hate my VPN, to the point that I have to deactivate it to comment on my own blog. Even though I can edit the posts without deactivating the VPN, I can't comment. Which I suppose explains why I am now sourcing video from Rumble and looking at Odysee. (I like Rumble except for the always on autoplay feature.)

Update to the Update: And it's broken again. Since I haven't changed anything - I spent the day dealing with car trouble - I have to assume it is on their end. Since there is virtually no way to get any support out of Google/YouTube/Blogger/Alphabet, I will just continue my drive to use Rumble and Odysee for video, and maybe I will relent and use Spotify for music.

I don't know about all of you, but I am having problems with YouTube videos. Videos that I have embedded from YouTube are not playing, but giving me an error message. I usually (always?) provide a link to watch on YouTube, or you can click on the video title in the embedded video to be sent to that site. They work on YT, just not when embedded.

Since both YouTube and Blogger/Blogspot are Google products, support is nonexistent. I have been trying some stuff. I can't figure out if it is my environment or them.

Videos embedded from Rumble are working. I haven't checked other sources. YT and Rumble being the 2 main places that I find video content, with Odysee gaining on Rumble. I'm not sure I have embedded any Odysee content, but maybe I should check that as well.

If you could let me know in the the comments what behavior you are seeing that would be great. So I've embedded the same video from two different sources below. While I can recommend the video, I'm not asking you to watch it twice; only tell me if it is working/not working on YT and/or on Rumble. Thanks.

Here is a YouTube video. Benny Johnson - CRITICAL DRINKER: They Removed Testosterone & MEN From Movies, Now The Hollywood Sign is in FLAMES🔥

And this is the same video from Rumble. Benny Johnson - CRITICAL DRINKER: They Removed Testosterone & MEN From Movies, Now The Hollywood Sign is in FLAMES🔥

Tuesday Links - 27 February

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony starts things rolling with Daily News Stuff 24 February 2024: Turkeys All The Way Down Edition

The Florida state legislature has passed a law banning children under 16 from social media. (Associated Press)

I'll have to read the text of the bill, but this seems doomed both constitutionally and practically. Children under 13, you may have a case, and that is essentially the law already. But if you're trying to ban teenagers from YouTube and TikTok, that's simply not going to work.

Meep at Stump - Classics on Leadership

My argument: read the classics — they’re chock full of stories relevant to leadership.

Drake's Place - 100,000’s More Gun Safes Added to RECALL… Safes from MAJOR RETAILERS AFFECTED. Biometric guns safes are not safe.

What is going on with the gun safe bio-metric option? Something is either seriously flawed or is it being done deliberately? Why do I ask this? 1) I don't believe in coincidences. 2) If I did believe in coincidences, the number of instances of this happening with bio-metric options greatly exceeds what I would consider or define as a "coincidence."

The Other McCain - Trump Stomps Haley in S.C.

There are a lot of sad faces on CNN tonight (I watch CNN so you don’t have to). All week long, they’ve been hyping up Nikki Haley’s chances in the South Carolina and . . . Well, it ain’t happening.

Legal Insurrection - Media Doesn’t Want To Talk About How Murder Of Georgia Nursing Student Was By Illegal Alien With Criminal Record

Scrambling to obscure that he’s in this country illegally, that the open border policies they support have lead directly to this bright young woman’s death, they have called him everything from an “Athens [Georgia] man” to just plain old “suspect.” Heck, Newsweek even found a way to tie this horrendous crime by an illegal alien to . . . MAGA. You can’t make this stuff up.

Again from The Other McCain - Anti-Israel Protester Does What Every Anti-Israel Protester Should Do (Is #SelfImmolateForPalestine Trending?)

But the main thing is, how can we encourage the whole kook-mob of lefties to emulate the late Aaron Bushnell? Like, wouldn’t it be great if the entire student body of Harvard University just decided to light themselves on fire, en masse, in support of Hamas?

Pirate's Cove - Retailers Test Out New Way Of Reducing Crime In San Francisco

It’s a hardware store. And customers have to wait for help like this is a high end jewelry or suit store, getting waited on. But, they also cannot come in to the store. They’re literally blocking customers from coming in to get what they want. Would you wait?

Adaptive Curmudgeon gets the last word with Curmudgeon’s Non-Vacation: Part 4: The Joys Of Home Ownership

I walked to the basement and found an inch of water on the floor. BAM! My simple little plans took a headshot!

Adulting sucks.

Every hope, dream, positive vibe, and spring in my step evaporated. Game over man!

I alerted Mrs. Curmudgeon that there was a leak, that the mini-vacation was canceled, and also that life was a useless slog of misery. (I was not a happy camper.)

73-Year-Old and 65-Year-Old versus 19-Year-Old Home Invader

It didn't work out to well for the home invader. Fredericksburg home invasion suspect shot and killed | KVUE

Officials said the homeowner, 73-year-old Curtis Roys, was asleep when he heard a loud banging noise outside. He then discovered a young man on his back patio who, when confronted, pushed his way inside through the patio door and began to assault Roys with a blunt object. Reportedly, he then put Roys into a chokehold, causing him to lose consciousness.

In the meantime 65-year-old Melody Lumpkin asked the 19-year-old to cease the assault. When he didn't she got a gun and fired a warning shot. When she noticed that Curtis Roys was not moving she shot the 19-year-old in the head.

The suspect was later identified as Cleto Neri Solorzano, 19, of Fredericksburg. He was treated by Fredericksburg Fire and EMS and taken to Hill Country Memorial Hospital, and later to University Hospital in San Antonio. He was later pronounced dead.

Thus saving the taxpayers the expense of supporting him, and making the world a better place.

While the investigation continues, this didn't happen on the island of Manhattan, but in the State of Texas. Fredericksburg, Texas is about about 60 miles or an hour's drive north of San Antonio, and about 65 miles west of Austin.

Hat tip goes to Bearing Arms, and The DaleyGator.

U.S. Patent No. 138 for the Revolving-Cylinder Pistol

The revolver marked the dawn of the modern firearms industry. Samuel Colt

And I hate missing important dates.

On February 25, 1836, the American inventor [Samuel Colt] received U.S. Patent No. 138 (later 9430X) for his revolving-cylinder pistol.

By 1856 - just in time to supply the Civil War - he had standardized/interchangeable parts, where guns had previously been hand-crafted one-off creations, and he could produce 150 guns per day.

The following is attributed to an unnamed Texas lawman from the 1800s. Supposedly it was engraved on his Peacemaker

“Be not afraid of any man;
No matter what his size;
When danger threatens, call on me—
And I will equalize!”

While nominally still in business, the company started by Colt was purchased by the Czech firm Česká zbrojovka Group (now Colt CZ Group SE) in 2021.

The image above is of a Colt 1851 Navy black powder revolver. The Peacemaker wouldn't come along until 1872, and it is still in production. (Hat tip to EBL)

And because Colt invented the revolver, EBL can now bring us Girls With Guns. She does that every Saturday.

Stop the PRO Act

From Mike Rowe: Chronic Freelancer Mike Rowe Goes to Bat for Independent Contractors In America

Of all the really bad ideas currently moldering before Congress, The PRO Act has got to be among the most odious. If it passes, no less than 70,000,000 independent contractors across the country will lose their independent status. Tens of thousands of truck drivers, graphic artists, dance instructors, cameramen, speech therapists, real estate agents, skilled tradespeople, and countless other Americans who would prefer not to labor as a traditional employee, will be forced to do so…or find a new line of work.

Go read the whole thing.

Kill The Noise

Plush is a band I tripped over because they are touring with Falling in Reverse and Disturbed. They are the opening act of 3 bands, but still...

Apparently a Rock/Metal band consisting of 4 women is still a novelty in 2024. Hopefully this is the end of that. They are pretty good. And they just released a new album.

This is "Kill The Noise" by Plush from their January 2024 album Find The Beautiful.

What If You Called 911 and the Cops Decided It Was Not an Emergency?

From MyNorthwest - 'Unacceptable:' Seattle officers disciplined after delayed response

It was a priority 1 call. That is the highest level of emergency. It took them 20 minutes to go one mile. So they didn't think it was an emergency.

Two Seattle police officers have been disciplined in connection with their slow response to a shooting at the Showbox SODO in Seattle in December 2022.

It has been confirmed that Seattle Police Department Chief Adrian Diaz agreed and issued the officers 1-day/9-hour suspensions.

One day off without pay. Given that I believe Seattle PD is in the middle of a bunch of mandatory overtime (I'm not 100% sure on that), my guess is that they will welcome the time off. So, not even a slap on the wrist.

At 1:54 a.m., the report states that the officers marked it as a disturbance with no victims or suspects arrested. DivestSPD noted that two hours later, the victim of the shooting arrived at Harborview Medical Center with an injury to his arm.

But then if someone was shooting at you, would you stick around for 20 minutes?

Calling 911 is a fine thing to do, but you need to realize that the cops won't be there instantly. In some cases it will take them some time to get there.

People Are Fed Up With the Bias of Journalism - Journalists Hardest Hit

There are a bunch of stories in the "news" in the past week or so, lamenting the fact that no one wants to pay for "journalism." I’m scared and you should be too: The state of journalism from the perspective of a student journalist

This is only one story from the past week. There are many from the past few months that are not that different.

On Jan. 23 the Los Angeles Times announced they were laying off 20% of their newsroom staff. That’s 115 writers, editors, photographers and other positions.

As a student journalist this news hit hard. Layoffs and closures are becoming all too common at news organizations around the country. It scares me as someone looking to enter the job field, and it should scare anyone who values democracy in America.

Yes, that sounds scary. Until you remember the glee with which "professional journalists" cheered on the mandated lockdowns during the reign of the "unspecified virus of unknown origins," the fervor with with they trumpeted the "Russia! Russia! Russia!" narrative against Trump, the wall of "that is a disinformation campaign" that they built around the Hunter Biden laptop story.

This was accompanied by hand-wringing about how "this is not supposed to happen to my beloved LA Times."

Even today the "professional journalists" routinely obfuscate the race of mass shooters (unless the race is white), the problems that exist on our southern border, and more. And after all of that they are shocked that people are stopping payments to news organizations.

I do agree that we need local journalists to keep local politicians in line, but people studying journalism in college don't aspire to running a local newspaper in rural Michigan; they expect to work for the LA Times, or the WaPo, or whatever. They dream of being the next Woodward, but not reporting on how the county board in some rural county in Nebraska is spending and/or wasting money.

And the current state of journalism is not new. Journalists have been decrying layoffs for a decade or more. Why is anyone majoring in journalism today? Oh that's right, he was told to "follow his bliss" even if that means spending $150,000 or more on a degree that will prepare him for working a coffee shop.

I can't tell you the last time I read a newspaper, or listened to a local radio or news broadcast. Why? Because I learned a long time ago that they were mostly lying to me. Often they were lies of omission, but lately they have just been lies.

Has everyone forgotten Ra^thergate? I haven't.

I would support journalism, if they weren't such a bunch of biased hacks. This is a story from a US source; the Canadian stories are even worse in some ways, since they are already in the pocket of the government and don't understand why their support of the Powers That Be haven't translated into larger bailouts. Those stories are complete with the "anyone who contradicts us is spreading misinformation!" line. In other words, they are voicing their support for censorship.

Illegal Immigrant Kills Georgia Nursing Student

Illegal Immigration has consequences. Illegal migrant from Venezuela is arrested for murder of UGA nursing student Laken Riley: Was released from CBP custody because of overcrowding | Daily Mail Online

An illegal immigrant freed because of lack of detention space is now accused of murdering a 22 year-old University of Georgia student after she went for a run.

Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested for the murder of Laken Riley in Athens - a sanctuary city - on Friday and is now being held at the Clarke County Jail.

You can click thru for the details.

Hat tip to The Other McCain: Joe Biden’s Policy Gets a College Girl Killed, But White Lives Don’t Matter.

Democrats voted for Biden’s open-borders policy. Democrats voted for the murder of Laken Riley. Do not let the media deceive you.

Rogue Elements

The Critical Drinker (Will Jordan) has a series of books, based on the character of Ryan Drake. There are 9 books in the series (I think). I have only read the 1st book.

Anyway, now they are starting to make movies. Or movie, anyway. The first movie is only a short, but it is a step forward.

With the cost of making movies coming down, and Hollywood in the thrall of the Woke Scolds on social media, the only way we will get new entertainment that is actually entertaining, is if new people make it.

This is the trailer for Rogue Elements. I think it looks good.

Self-Defense in St. Louis

It is becoming more common in the cities, as people realize that the government has given up on law and order. Suspect shot while breaking into historic masonic lodge

Sgt. Charles Wall with SLMPD said the suspect had broken into the Tuscan Masonic Temple on Westminster Pl. near Kingshighway around 4:30 am, setting off the building’s security alarms. Wall said a man living above the lodge woke up, found a gun and went searching through the building.

When the man saw the intruder, he shot him. Wall said police would approach the death as a shooting investigation, but it would be up to the Circuit Attorney to determine whether the shooting was justified under Missouri’s Castle Doctrine, which allows a defendant to use deadly force when they reasonably believe it is necessary in instances of a home invasion.

It remains to be seen if this will be judged legal self-defense. You can never tell in the Blue Cities. (Hat tip to Breitbart.)

New Media Woes

I have a couple of stories today on the state of journalism. A bit outside my usual topic - well, I do make fun of journalists from time to time - but it seems to be appropriate this week.

First we have the state of Vice Media: Vice to stop publishing on website, lay off hundreds. This was apparently unexpected.

Vice Media will lay off hundreds of employees and stop publishing on its website, the company’s leadership announced this week.

CEO Bruce Dixon said, “It is no longer cost effective to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” in a memo sent to employees and shared with several media outlets Thursday.

Several people have asked the question, how is it not cost effective to publish a website? I'm not sure if that has been answered. It certainly could be too expensive to employ "100s of people" to produce that website.

Vice is the latest in a slew of digital media companies that have been forced to lay off staff as a cost-cutting measure in an increasingly tough digital advertising market, increased fragmentation across the media landscape and fast-changing news consumption habits.

They mention layoffs at The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and the demise of a startup The Messenger after less than a year. I don't know anything about The Messenger, but it was billed, apparently, by the founder as being a "WaPo/Daily Mail hybrid." It shut down in January.

Vice Media is not going away completely, but parts of it will continue, though it isn't clear in what way.

Also the media outlet BuzzFeed is going through some stuff as well. BuzzFeed Sells Complex to Ntwrk for $108.6 Million, Will Lay Off 16% of Remaining Workforce.

BuzzFeed has sold Complex - the youth-culture media company it bought three years ago - and will pink-slip another 16% of BuzzFeed's remaining staffers in a restructuring designed to get back on financial track

BuzzFeed purchased Complex in 2021 for a total of $294 million. Though to be fair, the sale doesn't include everything that it purchased in 2021; BuzzFeed is keeping the First We Feast branded content.

The 16% reduction will be from a starting point of an existing employee base of about 1000. It comes after laying off 180 people in 2023 related to closing down its news division.

The proceeds of the sale will be used to eliminate debt. The continuing operations are generating revenue of $73 million or more, so it is hard for me to understand how this company can't make a go if it. I guess that there are some who expect it to be broken up, and sold off in chunks.