Weird – Shall Not Be Questioned

Bleeding Kansas of the 21st Century?

The war began when a fascist party and its armband-clad leader led a putsch. Antifascists mobilized in response. Threats of violence ensued.

Then the Rocky Mountain Fur Con canceled all future events.

The Fur Con is an annual summit in Denver, Colorado, for â€œfurries,â€ people who present themselves as animals, from donning full-body fur suits to adopting â€œfursonasâ€ for their character. And just as in the rest of America, a lot of furries resemble Nazis lately.

I’ve been binge watching “Life Below Zero” on Netflix. This kind of shit is making life near the Arctic Circle looks more attractive by the day.

Hat Tip to Clayton Cramer.

.45 ACP Luger

No, really.

Via TFB, who highlights some of the other delightful weirdnessÂ to be found there. When Germans go weird, they goÂ weird.

Seen Around the Internets: Handheld Flamethrower

Legal in 48 states, but this is bound to cause some hysteria:

I wonder how good it would be at clearing the driveway of snow.

Inspired by (Disney’s) security theater, Leatherman will be bringing a “wearable multitool” out this year. I feel for the guy who designed this; one of the minor annoyances of being a low-level road warrior (3-5 flights a year) is not being able to bring my own Skeletool with me. I’ve seriously considered buying a pack of the cheap $2/unit in bulk at the local home despot to be able to drop one in my checked luggage and not care too much if it doesn’t make it past baggage handling. This won’t fix that annoyance completely, since it won’t have a blade, but the “cutting hook” would deal with most of what I actually use a blade for (opening packages without having to use my teeth). And, of course, the most important tool, the bottle opener.

OTOH, the fine folks at TSA will probably make something up on the spot to “ban” this…

Teach your children well

From the Washington Post (of all places), comes this piece on the normalization of the surveillance state via a childrens’ book.

(My wife and I are both in agreement on this;Â we won’t have the little informer in our house).

Incidentally, I find it interesting that you apparently have to break an ingrained more against “tattling” or “telling.” There is something very low-level in our makeup (either social, culturalm or genetic) that works against providing negative information to an authority (be it parental or outside the family unit).

All Tools are Weapons

Just so you know where the end game is, this is a campaign in the United Kingdom. Yes, this seems to be serious, and not a parody. Look at the weapons! I see a hammer, a santoku kitchen knife, crossed with a fillet kitchen knife, and a screwdriver. There are not weapons to any normal person who is not half off their rocker. These are unambiguously tools. Are carpenters cowards? Are chefs cowards? Electricians? How does one determine whether someone is carrying a tool for a legitimate purpose or as a weapon? Why would any sane society want to put its people through something like this, having to justify why I might have a hammer, screwdriver, or knife in my car? Why I am carrying a Leatherman? Does anyone in Britain have the guts to tell these people they’ve lost their minds? It’s frankly hard to believe these are the same people who weathered The Blitz and stormed into France at Juneau and Sword.

A Guilty Pleasure

I am actually a closet connoisseur of conspiracy theories and various forms of eccentricity. I don’t believe in them, but I’m fascinated by them and by those who do, especially those who believe enough to go to jail. This guy is a quality eccentric, right down to the manner of dress. The world would indeed be a duller place without people like this:

â€œI cannot maâ€™am,â€Â Tertelgte continued. â€œI have to honor the founders maâ€™am. I honor the memory of those who fought and died that we can be free of this type of thing.â€

Tertelgte was then ordered out of the court room and two officers asked him to stand up.

â€œIf I stand up I give you recognition,â€ he said. â€œNo, pick me up. I cannot give you recognition.â€

Awesome. The linked article includes video.

UPDATE: Here’s more information on what he was speaking about in regards to the prosecuting attorney:

The American Bar is an offshoot from London Lawyers’ Guild & was established by people with invasive monopolistic goals in mind. In 1909 they incorporated this TRAITOROUS group in the state of Illinois & had the State Legislature (which was under the control of lawyers) pass an unconstitutional law that only members of this powerful union of lawyers, called the “ABA,” could practice law & hold all the key positions in law enforcement & the making of laws.

Attorneys also use the title “Esquire” which is, in the view of people who believe this, a title of nobility, and prohibited by the Constitution. You have to admit it has a certain logic to it. He did get up and scream about fringed flags in his arraignment, but declaring the Court to be administering British Ministerial Law is a new one I hadn’t heard of before.

Pennsylvania’s Capacity Limits

I realize this is off topic, but this is just one of those “what the hell” topics that blows my mind. In Pennsylvania, we restrict the capacity of your bags of potatoes.

No, I’m not kidding.

Apparently, eight pound bags of potatoes are one of the most popular sizes in many states. In Pennsylvania, selling potatoes in bags that hold eight pounds is illegal. We can buy them in bags of three pounds, five pounds, or even ten pounds. But, eight pounds is where someone thought it was important to draw the line.

While there’s an effort to get this absolutely absurd potato capacity law off the books, it doesn’t seem to be moving anywhere fast. That’s part of the problem in government. No one seems to put any real priority on repealing bad laws that in no way serve or protect the public.

Colorado Recall Elections Get Complicated & Weird

The recall elections targeting anti-gun state senators in Colorado just got a little more interesting for the major parties because the courts are forcing a change to allow Libertarians on the ballots. A judge ruled that the timelines the government set for gathering signatures violated the state’s constitutional provisions.

On one hand, this makes it more likely that elections will be held in person and that’s bad for the Democratic incumbents. On the other hand, with at least one of those seats being held by a guy who won because of a split vote, it could make it tougher to actually unseat them with one candidate. To make the election nice and messy, hundreds of ballots have already been mailed that are now likely incorrect.

For the weird factor, a former candidate in the recall races is demanding $54 million from various Republican officials and committees in Colorado and a gun shop owner because she seems to claim that breaking the news that she writes dirty books was slander – even though she admits writing the books. Her rambling accusations against party members also say they are capable of hurting her pets and committing terrorism, which is almost weirder than the claim that they owe her tens of millions of dollars. The claim also appears to accuse these folks of election fraud for the acts of trying to influence opinions of who might make a better candidate.

The Nanny State Comes from Voters

Remember that the nanny state isn’t just the work of power-hungry politicians looking to control every aspect of your lives. There are people who actually purposefully support this kind of control because they want all types of fun by others that might possibly disrupt their bubble to be banned. Think I’m kidding? This report come from the York, PA reporter seemingly in charge of the local beat today:

A woman just called 911 because the fireworks are scaring her cat. So stop scaring cats, all you Independence Day celebratory brats!!

— Chris Otto (@YDRChrisOtto) July 5, 2013

Think about that for a moment. A woman called the emergency services line to report that the government needs to put a stop to other people’s fun because it may be disrupting her cats. She may be a little off, but there’s a good chance that she would actually consider this a reasonable use of force to send a police officer with a gun after someone who simply frightened her cat. And she’s likely allowed to vote. There is no minimum sanity requirement for voting.

Category: Weird