The Road to Hell.

A recent posting at We The Armed explains some of the benefits of domestic drones from a law enforcement point of view.

There have been times when having an airborne FLIR system would have been very helpful. We can call the highway patrol, but sometimes their aircraft are down. We've chased burglars when it would have been very useful and we've had elderly walk away from their residence, especially in winter time, when that would have helped also.

Nothing but the purest of intentions. Right?

A few people still remember what good intentions are the paving stones for.

I'm sure the US Government had good intentions when it demanded Google build a backdoor to its Gmail accounts. The real world result was Chinese hackers breaking in and using Gmail to gather intelligence. I'm sure the restrictions on Sudafed are done with the purest of intentions, too. The real world results are an estimated $1.5 billion in higher costs to health insurance companies and more demands on the time of primary care physicians who are already in short supply.

So, next time you have to wait an extra hour to to see a doctor or your medical insurance premiums go up again, you can thank the pure as driven snow intentions of the bureaucracy. Don't expect the bureaucrats to care -- in the strange fantasy land that statists inhabit only the good intentions matter. Any bad result is just used as an excuse to lay down even more paving stones.

How will the domestic use of unmanned drones play out? I don't know -- I am an observer, not a prophet. My observation of history and the natural tendency of government power to increase prompts me to believe it will not work out in a manner that increases individual liberty.

When is Enough, Enough?

Once upon a time I might have agreed that putting nutritional information on vending machines is a good idea. However, seeing how the nanny fascists abuse every power they can get I have to agree with this:

It’s enough to make me want to have a dinner that consists only of a steak the size of an actual Holstein and two beers so dark and rich they form their own food group. Then, a dessert with more calories than the average NFL lineman eats for breakfast. I’ll give my meal plenty of time to settle because I’ll be smoking the fattest cigar I can find — one that required the efforts of an entire Dominican village to make. Then, I want to hop into a 1966 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500, crank up Van Halen’s version of “You Really Got Me”, drive 100 miles an hour until I get to the nearest left-wing, totalitarian bastard of a Congressman and slow down just long enough for him to figure out that I’m flipping him the bird.

More at Keep Your Hands off my Vending Machines, You Damned Dirty Bureaucrats!

Reminds me of Edgar Friendly (Dennis Leary) in the classic* movie Demolition Man

You see, according to Cocteau's plan I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think; I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder - "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green Jell-o all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener".

*well it should be