The Lone Libertarian

As of today, July 1st, texting while driving is prohibited in the state of Tennessee.  It will be treated as a non-moving violation with a fine of $50.

That’s interesting to me, that an activity that could be dangerous (and potentially deadly) to others would carry the same weight and fine as something like not wearing your seatbelt.

Only dangerous to yourself, or dangerous to all on the road, it’s all the same.  Heh.

Today is a great day for those with handgun carry permits in Tennessee.  We are one step closer to being able to carry our handguns into restaurants that serve alcohol.

The Tennessee Senate overwhelmingly passed SB1127 / HB0962, 26-7.

Cross your fingers that this makes it to the governors desk, and he has the presence of mind to sign it.

Here’s a link to some pictures I took at the Memphis Tea Party.  I’ll provide a more substantial update later.

http://picasaweb.google.com/thelonelibertarian/MemphisTeaPartyApril152009#

There are two “Tea Parties” slated for this end of the state, protesting the “stimulus”, pork filled budget, and other misuse/unconstitutional use of tax dollars.

Memphis, TN:

Audubon Park (corner of Southern Ave and Perkins Ext)
Wednesday, April 15 from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Fayette County / Somerville, TN:

Somerville, TN Court House Sidewalk (South side on Hwy 64)
Wednesday, April 15th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

A few radio remotes and TV cameras will be at the Memphis location.  Spread the word!  This will make the evening news.

After a short break I’m back at it again.

A note came across my desk indicating that the Constitution Party VP candidate will be speaking in Memphis on Monday night.

I may have to make an appearance.

Email quoted below:

I’m pleased to announce that VP candidate, Darrell Castle, of the
Constitution Party will be the guest speaker at the Libertarian Party
of Shelby County’s monthly meeting.

This meeting is open to the public. Spread the word.

Date: Monday October 27, 2008
Time: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Pancho’s Restaurant (717 White Station Ave, Memphis, TN)

Let’s face it, the Republican National Convention has been uber boring.

Catch Ron Paul’s “Rally for The Republic” live webcast from the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Ron will make a speech at 7pm CDT.

Enjoy.

This my friends is amazing.

A 11-year old girl field strips and reassembles an AR-15 in less than a minute.

Nice.

H.R. 6458 introduced on July 10, 2008 by Rep. Jackie Speier [D-CA] is yet another knee-jerk reaction by Congress concerning the rising cost of gasoline.  This bill is more or less a throwback to the 1973 legislation enacted after the OPEC embargo that set the national speed maximum to 55 MPH.

The bill states:

(1) a maximum speed limit on any highway within its jurisdiction in excess of 60 miles per hour, other than a highway on the National Highway System located outside of an urbanized area;
(2) a maximum speed limit on any highway within its jurisdiction on the National Highway System located outside of an urbanized area in excess of 65 miles per hour;

So by decreasing overall productivity, creating wealthy police departments via enforcement, and forcing us to conserve, do you really think it will cause the price of gasoline to fall?  It didn’t exactly work in the 70’s, what makes you think it will work now.  Someone needs to send Rep. Speier a history book for Christmas.  The reason the 55 MPH speed limit was made permanent in 1977 was due to safety issues (not gasoline costs), and I think cars are quite a bit safer now.

This measure will end up costing us more in the long run.  Currently this bill is in committee.  I’ll report more as action occurs.

An interesting development came from the Barr campaign yesterday.  It would seem that the Democrats and Republicans have missed the August 26th filing deadline in Texas, and thus they will not be on the November ballot for the Presidential election.

Now, lets see what rule-bending the state Dems and Reps perform in order to allow their candidates on the ballot, when they rigidly require other parties to follow by the letter.  I predict election fraud and corruption in Texas in the coming weeks.

The official Texas ballot can be found here.

Press release:

Barr Only Presidential Candidate on Texas Ballot

Republicans, Democrats miss deadline to file presidential candidates in Texas

Atlanta, GA - Bob Barr is slated to be the only presidential candidate on the ballot in Texas after Republicans and Democrats missed the Aug. 26 deadline to file in the state.

“Unless the state of Texas violates their own election laws, Congressman Barr will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot,” says Russell Verney, campaign manager for the Barr Campaign and the former campaign manager for Ross Perot.  “Texas law makes no exceptions for missing deadlines.”

The Texas Secretary of State Web site shows only Bob Barr as the official candidate for president in Texas.

“We know all about deadlines,” says Verney. “We are up against them constantly in our fight to get on the ballot across the nation.  When we miss deadlines, we get no second chances.  This is a great example of how unreasonable deadlines chill democracy.”

“Republicans and Democrats make certain that third party candidates are held to ballot access laws, no matter how absurd or unreasonable,” says Verney. “Therefore, Republicans and Democrats should be held to the same standards.”

I am a serial tinkerer at heart (some call us hackers).  I like to learn how things work, tweak them, and make them work better.  Mind you, it doesn’t always happen that way.  Just ask my mom about the several household objects that I destroyed by tinkering as a child (a stereo, an old tv, a tape deck, etc).

I purchased a new computer 2 months ago and something about the case just bothered me.  The machine seemed to run hot.  A temperature of 47 C at idle seemed a little too hot for “normal.”  The video card ran at about 62 C idle.

So what do I do?  I purchase a different cooling solution for the CPU, one of those new fangled heat-pipe with alumnium fin designs.  Upon receiving the new cooler, I found that it wouldn’t fit in the case.  Rats.

One thing I did notice was that the hard drive in this cramped case was mounted an inch away from the RAM and processor (that cant be good for heat management).

I had a Coolermaster Centurian 5 case with my old machine in it, so I thought, “Gut that thing and slap the new machine in.”  Needless to say this was an endeavor that lasted until the midnight hour.

One thing I learned about this adventure was that SATA connectors are complete and utter crap (and possibly the sockets as well).  As I was unplugging my hard drive from the motherboard, pushing the release on the connector, the connector as well as the SOCKET came clean off the board.  The pins of the socket were still affixed to the board, staring at me.

This scared the CRAP out of me, and thoughts of “I just ruined my new machine” and “Why can’t I just leave stuff alone” ran through my head.  At this point, I figured if the pins were still there, I could reattach the socket somehow.

Then came issues with removing the motherboard and backplate.  PC manufacturers, PLEASE do me a favor and NEVER screw a cover over the integrated VGA port with a non-standard “star patterned” screw head.  I couldn’t remove the motherboard from the backplate, so I took and unorthodox approach and pushed the backplate out along with the motherboard.  Putting it in to the new case was a bit tricky because they were attached, but easily done.

Even more fun.  I opted to use my better Coolermaster power supply, however the two SATA power connectors it has are daisy-chained and not long enough to reach both the hard drive and the DVD drive.  Guess I’ll have to find a molex to SATA power converter this afternoon.

I broke the release on the hard drive SATA cable but finally got the connector out of the yanked-out socket (it took a TON of force). I can’t say for certain, but I think the manufacturer glued the connector to the socket, thus causing my folly.

I carefully realigned the plastic socket over the pins and pressed it down onto the board, then plugged the hard drive into it.  I hope it doesnt come loose or fall out one day when I’m doing something important.

I plugged it in to the wall and viola it works.  The larger, more roomier case ran 9 C cooler that the cramped case.  The graphics card runs 10 C cooler.  Nice.  All I need is the extra SATA power connector, and I’m back to 100%.  Gonna troll the local electronics stores this afternoon.

Yes, I’m a geek.