Technolgical Blaze of Glory

    The time has come, again to rant about the past year.  However, there are a variety of subjects  to choose from. One could go on about the current state of  the telecommunications industry, and the future on online viewing   habits and venues, to the recent  advances in television technology.
   However, there are bigger issues that need addressing. Such as Gun Control, Mental Health, and fiscal responsibility of our government, and  the like.  Its all fine and dandy to sit here in our techie towers and ponder the future of telecommunications, which is important, but in the final analysis, if the country has lost its moral compass and its roots all the technology in the world won’t get it back on the right track. It will just go down the wrong way in a technological blaze of glory, which will keep people from seeing what the real problems are.
The shooting last year , prompted me to write about my views on gun control, particularly concealed carry. I don’t belive new rules governing guns are going to solve the problem. The majority of shooting are done by people who have mental issues who were not treated properly or at all. In many cases they were dumped from one organization back and forth to another and no one took responsibility for making sure they got what they needed, either treatment that worked or locked up for both their and societal safety.  The point is everyone who has any responsibility in any level of government is too busy playing the blame game, pointing their fingers at everyone elses when the Sh**t hit the Fan, No one has gumption enough to stand up and say, he was my patient, or our department was handling him, and frankly, we screwed up, and we’re looking to see where we screwed up. No one has said anything remotely like that, nor will they, because, the would be taking responsibility for ones  own actions, or in some cases inaction.  

    This country was founded on a principle that all men are created equal, and should be given the benefit of the doubt, and along with certain other rights, such as to vote, and pursue that which give us pleasure, so long as it do no harm, to society .  When the government has become so big and complicated that many times one department doesn't know what the others are doing, there is a fundamental issue with the power structure, and  delegation of authority, and who answers to who. While it is clearly laid out in the constitution, and on the state levels, Sometimes  many things are lost in translation, and the people who are responsible, tend to forget to whom they’re ultimately responsible to, to the people who elected them to their offices. They were elected and they can be unelected just as easy. President Obama made history when was the first black president to be elected., again he made history by being reelected, what his final role in history will be remains to be seen, and will not be fully understood for decades. Just as all of our past presidents have been judged through the eyes of time and history to be kinder than  they were at the time.  One can hope history and time will be as kind to President Obama.

Looking forward to the new year, which has already started. Once again find many things to talk about. The advances in media in the last ten years or so have far outstripped sixty plus years of media that came before it. From the time in the 1950’s when color TV came on the scene and  the movie industry felt threatened, to the next generation of TV, being cable and satellite,  there really hasn’t been a fundamental change in the content itself, it was essentially still the same as it was in the 1950’s plus or minus a few little tweaks, depending on your point of view. Then the VCR came along, and that was the beginning of the changes which are still happening.   The movie industry soon embraced TV, as a way to reuse a huge backlog of movie content that had stored and monetize it and get it to still make them money, which they’re still doing, only today on a grander scale. The VCR became the DVR, Digital Video Recorder,, in which we still say we’re  “taping” a show or a movie, and there is no actual tape involved, it all ones and bytes. Of course with the surge of good relatively cheap fast broadband internet across the nation,  sites, like Hulu came along, which allowed us to stream content directly to our computers. while it wasn’t a perfect world, the content still had ads, but it was a small price to pay to be able to see free content, we wouldn’t be able to see in places we wouldn't normally see it.
After that, came Netflix, one price a month, and all the streaming you could watch. Best part no commercials. It was the right product at the right time. They were aggressive with the marketing, and making content deals to get more content as they went along, as they were doing that, they also perused the hardware side, making deals to get their software in as many  types of consumer products as possible, making it easier for the consumer to watch the content they paid for and as many platforms as possible. Since then many other players have jumped into the video streaming pool. It has become somewhat crowded. Amazon has their own streaming service, Amazon Prime, for a flat rate you get to stream a large catalog of material, however, having used it, I have to give it mixed reviews.
    To aid in the distribution of all of this video content online a number of set top boxes have come out. The best of theses is the Roku, its cheap their  cheapest box is about 50. dollars, and their most expensive is 100.00.  Theres no fee for using it. Only if you are using Netflix or other pay service, which you're paying for anyways. The best part is all of the free channels they have available .
At present they have several hundred channels which you can add, 99% of them are free,  The ones that require a fee are relatively cheap. As for subject manor, that ranges from many niche subjects such as specialized cooking to various forms of tech , to a wide range of music channels to stream almost any taste in music to you tv, and sound system, If one is is looking for a good way to supplant their cable or in a few cases eliminate it completely the Roku Box is a good candidate.

    The discussions in Washington, about both technology, and gun control, and health care, are important and far reaching. The right of a citizen to defend themselves is paramount  in the minds of many people. While I am deeply saddened by the shooting that happened last year, particularly the school shooting. I refuse to give up my right to defend myself and my family and anyone else who is in danger at a given time.  As for limiting rounds in magazines that is just a first step to working to take our guns away completely, If we give in to that, we’re saying ok, fine you have my constitutional right, even if it only a round in my magazine at a time,  I’ll remind you of it when I need it and I’m a round short to stop the situation  and people get dead because I couldn’t have the capacity magazine I needed to stop the bad guy and he killed more people.

Personal Defense; Its Your Right and Responsibly

     Introduction

Those of you who have followed my blog over the last few years and know me personally, know I rarely take a stand on political issues one way or another. 
 However, the subjects of the article that follows, is something that a vast majority of Americans have in theirs lives in one form or another, guns. 
     Where I grew up in Western New York, It was not unusual for a farmer to have a old .22 and a couple of old shotguns sitting in the closest as  many of my family did, But, the time I came around, they were never used. I sure in their day they saw plenty of use. 
When I lived in Texas, the gun culture was far more prevalent.  
Many of the  pick-up trucks one would see would gun racks mounted to the insides of the back windows, and at least a shotgun, or a rifle of some kind would live there. And no one paid any attention. 
I have had a .22 rifle most of my adult life and started with BB guns and the like as teenagers.  


     I don't claim to be a expert or marksman of any kind, However,  I do enjoy shooting and seeing and handling fine guns. A  fine gun is in many respects a work of art, and a display of craftsmanship, which  alone can be appreciated .
I said all of this as a introduction to the real article I am publishing today. I wanted people to understand where I come from, and , possibly go back and rethink  the roles guns have played in their lives. But Now On to the article.


    Today, I find my myself writing about a subject that is near and dear to my heart.
In a Word Gun Control. The news s been almost  nothing but the tragedy at the Batman screening  last week . The repercussions will be felt  far and wide both for the good and bad.
As near as I can tell The gunman had all off the-shelf gear that anyone who passed a basic background check can get.  I don’t begrudge any person the right to purchase whatever firepower that they feel the need to defend their life and loved one. including him.

As much as a tragedy this is, This is a isolated incident and should be treated as such. The fact that they have him alive will in the long run help answers a lot of question.

The Second Amendment in the Constitution give all free able bodied citizens  the right to bear arms.    I just went over the requirements for getting a concealed carry permit here in Virginia
.http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_ResidentConcealed.shtm
The point is its very easy only cost about 50.00, with the background check, and only takes  about 45 day. and the permit is good for 5 years. So as long as you keep your nose clean, and send in the renewal papers every 5 years your good.
    This bring us to a bigger question . Different states have much tighter processes for getting a ccp, an tighter rules about where you can actually carry it when you finally get it. That not even counting  the fact the many states will not honor a ccp from another state while the reverse state will honor it.

Here is a list of all of the states and a simplified  of each state's rules about ccp rules;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_(by_state)

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   There have been  several instances of people getting it into their head that doing some kind of mass killing spree will make them famous in the last several years.  While I understand the initial impact is horrific and terrifying to those involved.
My, feeling that keeping it in the news and giving out every little detail only feeds their need to be famous. If they are captured alive in particular,  their names and personal details should be buried, as much for the public's sake, who knows all of this has happened, but does not need to be constantly reminded of it every time they turn on a tv. But it also takes the glamour out of committing the crime and having their names in the public face. The factual detail details are all a matter of record to a very large extent. But there's no reason to  open it any more then needed.

    On to possible outcomes had there been armed  citizens in the theater :
Its entirely possible if he knew there was the possibility that he might be met with armed resistance he would have thought twice about it, but I doubt it from the reports put out so far.
So he goes in with a AR-15 semi auto rifle and starts shooting at whoever presents themselves.What if,  Suddenly he is is being fired back at from the audience, whom he is trying to kill. Now, at that time no one knows he’s wearing all the body armor, But  getting hit multiple times with a large caliber round is going to hurt and possibly give some else a chance to help subdue and minimize the damage and thus change the outcome of the whole situation.

I’m not in way suggesting that we go back to the days of the wild west as portrayed on tv on the 1950’s westerns, where everyone wore a gun on the hip for all to see. Sociality wouldn’t tolerate it. However, making it easy for law abiding citizens and responsible people who are trained in how to handle their gun, and the repercussions would go a long way to helping to shop violent crimes in general. Its my contention that if one knows there at least a 50/50 chance he’s going to ment with a gun on the other side of the door he‘s thinking of breaking into, maybe he’ll think twice, is it worth it.

    The flip side of all of this is the anti-gun camp. They believe that guns are evil and should be banished from everyone but a very select few.  Their argument is very simple; Guns Kill, So get rid of the guns.  A knife can kill, a piece of rope can kill, hell, even a laptop bashed over someone’s head can conceivably kill. Do We ban all of the above mentioned, just because they have been, or can possibly  be used to kill. NO A gun is a tool., Just like a knife, piece of rope, and a laptop. Its all in how their used.
What is needed is education starting from a young age, in boy scouts,, which I know have shooting programs, and fathers and grandfathers educating the young people in their lives about the responsibilities of having guns around both in safety aspects, no one wants someone  shot accidentally because they didn't know what they’re doing, but in  how to handle the firearm, how it works loading  running the action, shooting it and being comfortable enough that should the unthinkable happen and they need to defend their lives or their family's life they know how to use the gun.Alway be aware that this is a perishable skill.  Meaning, that if one does not practice on a regular basis one will lose what proficiently they ever had, instead of building new skills.

    I could go on, However, I think that I have stated my case that I am very much pro gun, and pro concealed carry policies that could help changed the ending of incidents like the Batman shooting. and Maintain the  freedom of all Americans to own and use whatever firearm they deem necessary for their situation. Its in the Constitution, and It should not be watered down by states passing arcane laws that restrict the carrying of the gun, or the purchase  the gun they need for their particular situation.
It seems that as the years have gone by, places that were once considered safe and family friendly are becoming more and targets of people like the batman shooter, so carrying a gun where one might not of thought to suddenly becomes a good idea.


Kenneth Lawson