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We’ve all heard the phrase “the internet is forever.” That’s certainly true. Once you put something out there, it’s out there for good. But other things are forever, too, like screenshots and social media histories.

In the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old former police cadet currently charged with first degree murder (among other felonies) for shooting a trio of attackers during the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, they haven’t gotten much just yet from his social media.

The mainstream media’s enjoying tagging him as a “police admirer” and waxing poetic about his Back the Blue posts on his Facebook page. Oh, how terrible. He supports law enforcement? The scandal.

If the worst thing the MSM can say about your Facebook page is that you support law enforcement, you’ve done something right. If they can’t dig up old BoogBoi posts, “f*** around and find out” memes, or anything else potentially derogatory or incriminating, that’s a good thing.

fuck around and find out tweet
Courtesy Twitter

Just how much does your social media presence matter as a gun owner? It matters a great deal more than many people realize or care to admit.

All too often gun owners fail to considerable the possible repercussions of their online behavior. Just this morning there was a guy on a friend’s Facebook post saying he didn’t understand why Kyle Rittenhouse didn’t shoot one of his attackers in the head twice rather than shooting him in the bicep because, the commenter said, that’s what he would have done.

Sound innocent? It’s not. Someday a prosecutor could have a field day with it. Don’t be that guy.

You are not John Wayne. This is not a movie. This is real life. Not only do your actions have consequences, but so do the words and images you post online. Think you’re safe because you have a troll account or deleted an old account? Nope. It can all be found and traced right back to you. And will be if you ever find yourself in a jam.

Yes, it’s annoying to have to weigh every meme you post or comment you make for how inflammatory or damning it might one day be, but it’s the smart thing to do. It’s frustrating that even sarcasm can be so easily twisted against you. But wouldn’t you rather bite your tongue now than have social media comments and posts condemn you later? What’s the marginal utility of posting that cutting comment now if it may come back to haunt you later?

A good rule of thumb to follow is to post, text, and email like it will one day be read out loud in court to a judge and jury. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, but don’t be a blatant idiot.

Now, in the age of COVID-19 lockdowns, restrictions and a crazy amount of looting and rioting, things are at a tipping point. There’s a ludicrous amount of posturing, swagger, and “wish a motherf***** would” going on out there on social media platforms.

Courtesy Twitter

Throttle it back, guys. Stop and consider what this could do to you one day. Stop and imagine “one day” might be a lot sooner than you think.

Say it with me: everything is discoverable. It doesn’t matter if you made a problematic comment last week or seven years ago. Once it’s out there, it’s out there and discoverable. If you’re ever involved in a self-defense shooting, you can bet all of your social media will be mined for something — anything — that can be used against you.

Is yours clean?

 

 

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148 COMMENTS

    • If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.

      Cardinal Richelieu

      • “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

        ― H.L. Mencken

    • Stalin’s man: Show me the man, and I will find the crime.
      I pity the (stupid, careless, funny/practical joking) kids today. There’s no Polaroid cameras for them. Everything’s on record.

      • Something I’ve been instilling into my son. Operational Security. And on the internet there is no delete button. Stay off social media too.

    • people like to vent…but some of them don’t always come across as the brightest bulbs in the pack…posting a picture of yourself holding a weapon is never smart……

  1. Yeah all the lefties can say whatever they want and will never be charged or used but let us say anything and ohhhh you messed up. The 1st is only for them huh?

    • Do you want some french cries with your wah-burger, you whiny cunt? Maybe a Whine-eken to wash it down? The modern conservative victim complex is absolutely astonishing. I mean the level of ignorant self-pity just boggles the mind. Go shove it up your ass, which you’d probably secretly love.

    • No kidding. Meanwhile I’ll keep posting whatever I want because I don’t threaten anybody online. No threats, no problem. The socialists can threaten or harass if they want, but if we even hint at self defense it’s going to be used to ruin or imprison us. Get real, post what you want as long as it isn’t a threat and don’t let the thought police scare you.

    • the “report” or “flagged” button can be applied to them,as well…if they make threatening comments…and i’ve exercised that option on occasion…

  2. Just one of the many reasons I don’t do facestuff and tweety or any other “social” media, hell I don’t like people (or TRUST anyone) enough to give them access to my life the way most of those morons do, and I could give shit less how many followers I might have (hopefully none)…

    • “Just one of the many reasons I don’t do facestuff…”

      Same here, fortunately.

      Years back I never saw the point of it, and as time has progressed, am I ever glad I didn’t.

      In the hands of evil people, the damage it can wreak is horrifying…

      • @MADD & @GEOFF

        Agree with your comments on Fakebook et al…just bear in mind that TTAG is also social media and discoverable.

        • If leftists gain the power they seek, the very fact that we posted here will be sufficient pretense to inflict whatever it is they seek to inflict, regardless of what we actually wrote.

        • My presence here is evidenced on one hard drive on one laptop unlike “REAL” social media that pervades every aspect of peoples lives and embeds itself in every electronic device you’ve ever touched… I like my odds and I’ve taken some precautions….

        • @MADD

          Whatever resides on your personal HD is irrelevant.

          You appear to believe that if your personal HD is destroyed then you could not be convicted of whatever charges may be leveled against you in the future…remember that circumstantial evidence has convicted many a person…it is the totality of the evidence that convicts (that and who has the best hired liar lawyer representing their case).

          People can C&P your comments as they are posted or research TTAG archives for your historical comments. IP addresses are retained by media servers and ISP’s. Using a VPN can obfuscate the search somewhat but, it is not invulnerable to a directed, coordinated, search by skilled computer forensics people.

          Respectfully submitted,

          OGiM

        • Old Guy, I actually addressed that in a later post.. I was not sure how long TTAG kept stuff but was able to reference my posts back to 2012.. That still requires THEM to know I have a presence here and without the information on this hard drive there would be no reason for anyone to search TTAG for any posts I might have made…

        • I’ve never had accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or whatever else is out there. Deleted my Zerohedge account years ago when it started steering away from its conservative beginnings to become the mess it is today. Aside from the uncommon post every once in a while on other sites, I’m pretty much only on TTAG.

          …and Dan is always watching…

        • @HAZ

          Agreed!

          I believe that Dan posted a comment several weeks ago that he can see (monitor) IP’s. He said in that message that several entities who were posting under multiple personas had been denied TTAG access due to their trollish behaviors..he identified the miscreants by their IP’s.

          I enjoy the political comments for a while and then I am ready for the meat and potato offerings of more gun stuff.

          BTW, I don’t remember which thread it was a couple of months ago wherein a poster(s) highly touted the Taurus TX22. A few weeks ago my LGS texted me that he had received a TX22 and was I interested. The price was $239 out the door…I checked the “toy” account for funding and purchased it…Never thought I would have nice things to say about a Taurus product…the TX22 is Great! Light, reliable, accurate…what’s not to like. It even comes with a threaded barrel (unlike the G44).

          My thanks to the posters whose positive comments steered me to the best deal today in inexpensive .22 LR pistols.

        • “Never thought I would have nice things to say about a Taurus product…the TX22 is Great!”

          I’m looking hard at that one. 250 bucks, eats everything without complaint (unlike the Glock in .22lr) suppressor ready with thread adapter, and it doesn’t spit crap in your face with side eject.

          Just the ticket for my small pile of .22lr…

        • Here’s hoping that you like your new TX22 as much as I like mine. Gunmagwarehouse has had the TX22 mags two weeks ago for around $20 each (picked up two extra)*. Their e-mail notification on out-of-stock items returning to stock is pretty reliable.

          Not a fan of the cardboard box the pistol comes in. I picked up an Allen semi-hard zip case for $12 at LGS to store it in and for transporting it to the range.

          *just checked and they show out of stock.

  3. Nah… This ain’t it, y’all… His free speech doesn’t diminish his right to self defense at all no matter how cringe worthy it was.

    The violent left will attack you no matter what you say and do, so say and do as you please without giving their constant whining a single thought.

  4. Good advice Kat. I would add that you’re more likely to be targeted if you have the “wrong” opinions. The Party of Love and Acceptance isn’t very forgiving of bad behavior, even from dumb kids. The only chance of redemption is to have the “correct” opinions. They’ll actually cover for you for as long as possible if you’re on their side. For example: Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein, etc.

    Remember when that kid from Parkland was accepted to Harvard, but since he participated in wrongthink, his classmates sent in evidence of him writing dumb stuff as a young teenager? Harvard promptly canceled his acceptance, then admitted his classmate Hogg, who had low for Harvard SAT scores, and had already been rejected by multiple universities. What was Hogg’s redeeming quality? He had the “correct” opinions.

    • Well when you control 90% of just about every institution in the country…

      They even control sports now, along with China. The NBA is turning into a democrat get out the vote organization.

      • And it’s ok for 90 percent of the players to be one race too. So it was a natural step to make it an extension of BLM and DNC.

  5. All very true, BUT, to live in fear of being someday misunderstood by professional liars and murderers who have been lying and nation-wrecking since day one seems cowardly and not only UnAmerican, but also non-Teutonic. Maybe we should all just bow out any leave the whole place to the communists.
    BOTTOM LINE: If we don’t stop the ongoing Marxist insurgency, it will not matter how much of a Milqtoast you have been; you are going to the camps — or worse.

    • Yes, eventually it wouldn’t matter what you may have said. If they don’t have anything too damning they’ll distort and take statements out of context. And if they can’t do that they’ll just make something up. They’ve shown that clearly already. Unless things don’t actually go full Venezuela. 10 years ago I would have said it was unlikely. I have no firm predictions at this point.

    • This is a good point. For complete safety, you must never post any opinions out of line with the MSM/SJW/BLM/Democrat talking points. To be safe all you have to do is cede complete control of the narrative to the left. The problem is that a majority of Americans who go through public school and then higher education are thoroughly brainwashed. The demoralization of America is very thoroughly completed, and at every level of the system there are hordes of SJW leftist types who hate anyone not in complete agreement with their worldview.

      This is why Gaige Grosskreutz, the individual who pretended to surrender and then tried to shoot Kyle, is walking free. He was a felon in possession of a firearm, participating in riot and committing assault with a deadly weapon. Will he be charged? Doubtful. I am sure his social media history has plenty of Anti-Trump, proBLM, and pro Violence content. That type of content is regularly shared in leftist circles on social media. Will it be taken into account and used to convict him? Again, doubtful. The rules (such as they are) are only being applied to those who are not part of the left. A dangerous standard, and one that has historically been cause for revolution the world over.

      The United States is in a very precarious position right now, and it is overwhelmingly the fault of the left, which wields significant institutional power. Mind your tongue, mind your own business, and do your best to live in peace, but understand that none of that will be enough to save you if the left notices you and realizes you’re not one of them.

  6. “Once it’s out there, it’s out there and discoverable. If you’re ever involved in a self-defense shooting, you can bet all of your social media will be mined for something — anything — that can be used against you.”

    Know the legal ‘lay of the land’ where you may be charged. Areas that don’t like gun owners will be motivated to dig harder for dirt on you…

    • Use a multi-layer VPN (IP address problem solved) and a dedicated device such as an older PC or a Tracfone you bought with cash while wearing a COVID mask (MAC address problem solved). And if you’re really paranoid about LE finding your VPN’s originating node (even if you’re using TOR), just post via the free wifi available at any Starbux, McDonalds, or library.

      TPTB will have no way to find you, but we’re all still accountable to God, so behave accordingly. 🙂

      • Regarding your COVID mask wearing remark.

        A geek friend recently told me that companies who use facial recognition tech – Walmart, etc – are tweaking their algorithms to “focus” on ears since most facial features are hidden nowadays. Apparently, ears are as distinctive as faces with a bit of tweaking in the system.

        <sarc
        Considering a bandana with a floppy brimmed hat with an attachable long hair fringe (equipped with differing colors / styles) to cover ears in order to mess with their marketing / tracking systems.
        </sarc

        Don't forget to turn your phone's WiFi off out in public and to reset your Ad ID every few days to further mess with their data collection on you.

        • I use a neck gaiter pulled up over my ears, anyway, along with a shooter’s cap pulled down, so algorithms looking for eyes and ears don’t see me.

          When we were all kids, who would’ve ever seriously thought that one day we’d be doing this? (sigh)

        • yea, I was chuckling to myself a month or so ago when I first wore a bandana and cowboy hat while visiting my bank…childhood memories of Cops and Robbers backyard role-playing (long before LARP’ing was a concept.)

  7. I don’t care. I was marked by the left as a trained killer back in 1965 – emphasis on trained. And they were right. What they never have understood tho, is that all that means is that I know how and am selective.

  8. Yes, it’s annoying to have to weigh every meme you post or comment you make for how inflammatory or damning it might one day be, but it’s the smart thing to do.

    It is really rather simple. Stay off of social media. What you put out there, stay’s out there somewhere and can be retrieved.

    And don’t put your real email address on here. And use a VPN, and not the cheapest one either.

    • I once had a young lady show at up at my door selling ATT Internet service and since I was tired of Comcast and the price was better I signed up. She asked me for a temporary password and suggested I use a favorite actor. I said John Wayne then she said “Who is that?” and I ended up having to spell it for her.

    • JWT:
      ” ‘You are not John Wayne. ‘
      The fuck I ain’t!”

      Gee! Must be a case of mistaken identity. I thought John Wayne was dead. Oh, that’s right! People in the movies NEVER die. I forgot. (Snicker.)

      • Oops! I forgot to mention that, ” People in the movies NEVER die.” reminds me of what happens to one’s social media comments (i.e. they NEVER die).

  9. In my house:

    — No Spitter
    — No Faceboot
    — No Instagrime
    — No Icky-Toky
    — No posting on ChewTube
    — Nada

    I post only on TTAG; I use LunkedIn for professional messaging.
    Why TTAG? Great educational resource, despite the trolls.

  10. If there’s anything one should burn to the ground it’s their twitterbook accounts. Kill them with extreme prejudice. They are a system that’s designed to trap people in them.

  11. What social media? I ain’t got no social media. And if I did, I’d use a false name and a couple of rotating VPNs. And of course being on Linux helps.

    That is, if I had the time or gave a crap about playing meme wars with mouth-breathers on facebook or twitter.

    That being said, in any case, discretion is the better part of valor. Better to be vague and non-specific, make it harder to twist your words against you.

    • A fake name and a VPN aren’t enough. Seriously. There are “forever cookies”, fingerprinting, and much more. I have a Facebuk account, under a false name. Despite all of my best efforts, they know more about me than I want them to know. I’ve had better luck preventing Google knowing all about me.

      If you don’t want social media to know about you, you have to invest a LOT of time and effort into it. Be aware, Facebook maintains “shadow” accounts on people who have never loaded a Facebook page. Your kids, your coworker “tags” a picture of you, and you’re in the system.

      The German Stasi would have loved Facebook. It’s the most pervasive surveillance system in the history of mankind.

      • I don’t think a Facebook account can ever be deleted either!
        They can be inactive but they still exist. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

        • Correct about facebook accounts not being deleted, this started in mid 2012, before that in order to delete a fb account you had to go to through the delete process and not attempt to log in for 30 days before it was fully deleted. If you’ve been on facebook after 2011 your account is permanently in storage forever.

      • Sorry but courts aren’t taking your IP and running it, even if they did they couldn’t come up with much unless you are are socially active online. They specifically do a search for accounts where you use your real name ie facebook and do a full browse of your page and comments, uploads ect. Facebook is literally a federal government spy service. Unless they take your computer or phone and physically search your short term history, longterm is impossible to search, there is no online history of someone who isn’t a active giver of information online. The longterm storage of every place one has supposedly been is partially fiction because it only goes back so far, many believe storage for all activity online has been stored only since 2011, some 2013, some 2009, if you know about online spying by gov those years have significant meaning. And much is lost in gathering, storage and retrieval and it’s for federal agencies like nsa and cia, not state agencies. And much of it is unattainable and none of it can be used in state court, or federal court unless you are under investigation for terrorism, child porn ect. Typical internet history obtained for things like murder or drug sales are done by local authorities or third parties who don’t have access to full internet history. This particularly worry is all about facebook activity and any upload you made. Writing “bad” comments here or on a youtube video isn’t a worry at all if you don’t use your full name or identify yourself. Yes they are spying on us but a little discretion and security goes a long way in preventing easily obtainable history.

        • The thing is, the cops WILL take your computer, your phone, you tablet, etc. Given “short term history” of a year or so from your own computer, they can visit sites like TTAG, and pull your long term history from the site itself. Depending on your ISP, they may maintain a lot of history on you. Sites such as TTAG have the option of maintaining logs on members and users – including IP addresses.

          If you hope to beat “the system”, you really need to understand how that system works.

        • Sorry to be a bubble “popper” but I have been able to pull comments I made on this site back to April 2019, and there is access back to at least 2012…

        • Chris wrote: “Sorry but courts aren’t taking your IP and running it, even if they did they couldn’t come up with much unless you are are socially active online.”

          That is incorrect. Your Internet Service Provider has a record of your IP address(es), going back as long as they care to keep them. If your connection is “aways on,” like a cable modem, your IP address stays the same unless the ISP does a reset. Even with old dial-up (where your IP address is different with every log-in), your browsing activity on a particular date could be reconstructed if the ISP saved those IP addresses. Unless they purge their log-on data files, there is no reason why it wouldn’t be saved. Most techs working for ISPs wont bother to purge them automatically or do it manually, and so the log data can just sit on their server until the company goes out of business or they do some type of software update or purge of old files.

          That is why if you want your browsing to staty private, you must use some type of anonymyzing technques as others have posted in this thread. And as a bare minimum obviously don’t use Google for searches of anything you wouldn’t want others to see; instead use a browser that doesn’t trace you like Duck Duck Go. There have been several cases where murder suspects had their Google searches presented in criminal cases. Prosecutors have found old searches done by idot defendants for things like “how to poison a person,” “how to kill your wife” etc. And yes, in a case where you are accused of certain crimes a prosecutor can get a warrant for your PC, laptop, and phone; and subpoena your ISP and phone company for records. The Democrat prosecutors in recent cases have overcharged police officers in self-defense shootings, alleging PREMEDITATED murder and “racial bias.” With this, they can try to convince a judge to give them a search warrant for the home looking for anything to confirm that bias.

          Also the Wayback Machine is not the only Internet Archive. Data storage is very cheap these days, especially with compression. I happen to know for a fact that there exist government tape archives of the Internet going back to the 1990s. In one of the Harrison Ford CIA movies you can see the real-life robotic “tape libraries” that the goverment used even 20 years ago to hold massive amounts of data (it was made by Storage Technology Corp. – then Sun Microsystems – and today Oracle). And data compession and storage has only gotten cheaper since then. As an example of what can be stored, NSA whistleblowers have stated several times that the NSA has the capability to compress and store ANY amount of cell-phone conversations they wish to. So if you had a website in 2000 that advertised something you are embarassed about today, it is probably archived somewhere. If that somewhere is in the United States, it can be subpoened, and the FBI knows how.

          The moral of the story is STAY OFF social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) ; only make anonymous posts, and protect your browsing with VPN and all the other techniques mentioned by others in the thread. Lots of information is available on how to do this this just by searching online. However, be aware that even if you do this, there is always a danger of some screw up, so the safest policy even with anonymizing software is to be the Gray Man. Don’t post anything that could be used against you later in a court case. There really isn’t any reason to anyway – being a rational constitutionalist gun rights advocate online isn’t illegal. And profanity or inflammatory statements aren’t necessary to get your point across in posts. If you ever wind up in court, little old ladies on juries don’t like profanity.

          And by the way, Nancy Pelosi just said we are “enemies of the state.” So if the Libs ever get in power, anything traced back to you that they don’t like can get you “cancelled” from your job and your life as you know it. It has already happened to thousands of people from their social media posts.

        • A guy I unfortunately used to work with was arrested and got life for some disturbing enough to earn life stuff a few years ago. He ran an encrypted linux box and as far as I know they never got into it. They may not have enlisted the help of the fbi or anyone as they had more evidence than they needed as it was.

  12. I don’t do “social media” like Sh!tter and Facefvck, but if I did, I wouldn’t restrain myself as much as I do on TTAG. 🙂

    • Ralph,

      With such restraint, you could be a go-viral-media-influencer. I was just reading, this morning, about some college-age kid in LA who has 6 million followers on Icky-Toky. Makes a boatload of money. You could be next, Ralph!

  13. I have preached that from day one. Back before there was an internet. Be the example (in a good way). From everything I’ve seen, the only real thing Kyle has going against him is he probably shouldn’t have been armed at 17 and should have headed home at sundown. But the actual shootings themselves seem to be self-defense.

    Sorry CNN, a skateboard to the head is a lethal/deadly attack (so was a kick the way it was delivered), Kyle used equal force back. And when a felon with a firearm comes into play, same thing. Kyle was trying to leave when he was attacked, in my book that makes him the innocent party. Kyle only fired until the attack stopped and then he left as quickly as possible, straight to the police. A jury on decent folks would find him not guilty, however…. And even if not guilty, this will cost out the wazoo.

    • “…probably shouldn’t have been armed at 17 ”

      Pffft. Misdemeanor at worst.
      His misdemeanor doesn’t negate his right to self defense.

  14. This something I’ve stressed to students in my self-Defense law classes for 30 years. “And I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matt. 12: 36. As a former prosecutor, criminal defense lawyer, Coty Court Judge, and court-certified expert witness on self-defense and firearms, let me say that Jesus Himself backs what Kat is saying. Ethnic and gender jokes, bloodthirsty declarations, bumper stickers that say, “I don’t call 911. I call .357.” Can burn you down in court. Evidence of intent is ALWAYS admissible ! For instance, if you have “Punisher” skulls on shirts, hats or guns, or “Deadpool” logos, the other side will use that show that you admire vigilantes who take the law into their own hands.

  15. Don’t forget that the longevity of the internet can bite the liberal in the ass as well. I know of a case where a scum sucking whore of a defense attorney invoked the Elmer Fudd defense to get his marijuana bootlegging client acquitted for shooting at his landlord’s children in retaliation for closing down the criminal enterprise. He even had the audacity to misrepresent another marijuana bootlegger as a “gun expert”. This Tacti Cool Fool claimed that he was a gun expert because he assembles AR-15 rifles (from Parts stolen from a gun shop), then sells them without benefit of an FFL or background checks. This scum offered perjured testimony that the perpetrator could not have been firing lethal slugs rather than “harmless” birdshot because his allegedly antique, Remington 1870 shotgun (model does not exist) had a choke. “”The barrel would explode, just like what happens to Elmer Fudd when Buggs Bunny sticks a carrot into the muzzle of his shotgun.”.

    Every Elmer Fudd understands that the Breneke Slug and Foster slug were specifically designed to be fired through a shotgun with a full choke barrel. While modern sabot slugs are designed to be fired from shootings equipped with rifles barrels or shotguns with rifles choke tubes, the sub caliber projectiles with compressible plastic sabot will pass through a choke without catastrophic consequences. Anyone who knows diddly squat about internal ballistics understands that by the time a projectile teaches the muzzle, all of the propellant is already consumed. PV=nRT! No increase in chamber pressure, which has fallen to maybe 1,000 psi, is possible. If the attorney had read the unusually accurate article on Wikipedia about shotgun slugs that explains all of this, he would have known better.

    Interestingly, at or about the time that the aggrieved landlord filled a complaint with the Oregon Bar Association, the wikipedia article was deleted and replace with some gun magazine article written by some Tacti Cool Fool about the best barrel to use with sabot slugs. Elmer Fudd took the liberty of editing the wikipedia article to draw attention to the vandalism and advised the editors to contact the Columbia County Distract Attorneys office where the scum sucking whore of an attorneys wife works to advise them to investigate if anyone used their computers to edit the wikipedia article. Since wikipedia maintains successive iterations of their articles, they responded by referring back to a former version. Since Wikipedia also maintains records of the IP addresses of computers that are used to edit articles, this attorney can be busted for tampering with evidence.

  16. Good news for us!

    They are officially frightened that they may lose in November.

    New on ‘The Atlantic’ website :

    “This Is How Biden Loses

    Nothing will harm a campaign like the wishful thinking, fearful hesitation, or sheer complacency that fails to address what voters can plainly see.”

    “Here is a prediction about the November election: If Donald Trump wins, in a trustworthy vote, what’s happening this week in Kenosha, Wisconsin, will be one reason. Maybe the reason. And yet Joe Biden has it in his power to spare the country a second Trump term.”

    {~~ Snip ~~}

    “The day before, on Monday, the Republicans began their remote convention. The simultaneous mayhem in Kenosha seemed like part of the script, as it played into their main theme: that Biden is a tool of radical leftists who hate America, who want to bring the chaos of the cities they govern out to the suburbs where the real Americans live. The Republicans won’t let such an opportunity go to waste. “Law and order are on the ballot,” Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday night. Other speakers were harsher.

    It’s no use dismissing their words as partisan talking points. They are effective ones, backed up by certain facts. Trump will bang this loud, ugly drum until Election Day. He knows that Kenosha has placed Democrats in a trap. They’ve embraced the protests and the causes that drive them. The third night of the Democratic convention was consumed with the language and imagery of protest—as if all Americans watching were activists.”

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/how-biden-loses/615835/

    At least one of them finally realizes just what a huge mistake it was for them to fuel those violent protests.

    Yes! 🙂

  17. It’s not really an issue if you don’t have facebook or use your real name in your email, youtube ect. Or upload actual videos to net. Those of us who have chosen not to share every detail of our life online have no online history.

    • Do you run Microsoft Windows? You have history. Your computer logs everything that you do, and any forensic tech knows how to find those logs. I suggest that everyone upgrade to Linux, but few listen. Remember, Microsoft is a “partner” of government, at all levels. It’s part of their job to help government spy on citizens.

      • Paul,

        Yup. I supported a Red Hat Linux farm for about 4 years. World’s best OS. Maybe too techy for the average home-user who simply wants their PC to be as appliance-like as a toaster or rice-cooker.

        I liked Sun Solaris with kornshell, also. But that’s just me.

        • For any new person wanting to get into Linux, a flavor that’s super easy to transition to from Tinyflaccid Losedoze would be Linux Mint (Cinnamon desktop), which is based on Ubuntu (but better, with more out-of-the-box driver, library and codec support). If your machine is older, then probably I’d use the XFCE desktop, as it’s lighter. If you’re migrating from MacOS, Elemental OS would be a good choice in that case.

  18. One should comment and post as one should guard their speech in public. The laws of slander and libel still apply along with the over zealots of the cancel culture.

    One doesn’t have to censor oneself, just be smart about what you say and how you say it.

    Don’t say stupid stuff and the Jury you may face won’t be inclined to condemn you.

    Better yet is to avoid some aspects of certain topics. I avoid getting into when or how to go about defending oneself against an out of control government and their agencies of enforcement. It serves no purpose and can and will be used against you.

  19. As a 19th century governor of a US western territory I have no internet access as the internet hasn’t been invented yet. I do have a small firearms collection (arsenal) just in case the Irish get uppity.

  20. IMO widespread, habitual use of social media is folly.

    It amazes me that people are conceited enough to think other give a crap about every detail of their life.

    Then it totally blows my mind that hordes of people DO care what other people are doing.

    We have created a system where people view life without living and roll to it in hordes.

    TTAG is the only social media here I participate. I have to follow Kat.

  21. Not to mention that even if you never ever have a legal problem your social media posts can cause other problems.

    HR departments look you up. Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter etc. They scan through that stuff as part of the hiring process these days. You could end up not getting a job that you *should* because some HR manager saw something “questionable” in your online presence. And you’ll probably never know that this was the reason.

    And this is something that can cut both ways. I had an interviewer a few years ago ask about my Facebook presence. I told them the truth, that I didn’t have a Facebook account. The lady frowned and said “Really? You don’t have a Facebook account? EVERYONE has a Facebook account”. It was immediately apparent that she thought I was being dishonest. Now, in this instance it didn’t matter but it was strange to me because it was quite obvious that they’d gone looking for my online presence and that they found my minimal SM presence to be unusual.

    • Set all of your fb posts to friends only and make a post every month or two that is public about puppies. The HR lady will see you as a dog person, not an American.

  22. LOL..I’m not an interwebz expert but y’all spouting “I only post on TTAG,I use a VPN or fake addreses” are FOS. THIS site has been hacked. I myself was “accused”. Quit everything,find a missle silo in the Rockies and wait for the Apocalypse. Or man up and gun up. I have NOTHING incriminating on my fakebook page. I don’t do any other social media. There’s a certain comfort in being old. You can’t hide anywhere(Ted Kazinski got caught).

  23. yeah, and in the meantime your own “free speech” is censored and the things that must be said to fight evil are… left unsaid.

    hate and war are a natural condition to man: used properly, it is a response to evil, harm, corruption, lies and enslavement. to hate evil people and war against evil forces is a good thing. to fight the fight and continue the battle in court, standing up for what you said and crushing the enemy, is a good thing.

    the left can eat a bag of dicks and

    TRUMP 2020 MAGA 2020

  24. lol, if this is true they probably have more than enough to hang me already. So I might as well not worry about it and post like the John Wayne tough guy legend in my own mind I like to think i might be in my wildest Saturday morning childhood fantasies. 😉

    https://youtu.be/v_RsdVTFs20

    Joking aside, it is probably good advice, if you haven’t already said too much. Which, in all seriousness, I already have.

    • It’s not really good advice. Anonymity is perfectly achievable, all it takes is a bit of work. Does not matter what you post, as long as it’s not connectable to you.

      If it were otherwise, all the terrorists would be in Gitmo, the dark web wouldn’t exist, and all the black hat’s would be cooling in the pen. That the state of things are not exactly that should tell you something. At best this article is ill informed.

  25. If you Twitter, you get Chirpies. It’s like herpes, it’s also forever, and nobody will ever forget it.

    It’s also untweetable.

    Ok, I’m done now.

  26. I’m really not to concerned about my social media post. Once I get my Neutrino Fission Blomb built I’m roasting the universe. I hate every human on this planet, well except for a few, but God already tried that with Noah and it didn’t work,so kiss your asses, hopes and dreams goodbye. It’s almost time to light the fuse. ( Eat that you gov Spybot’s)

    • hmm… somebody tries to kill every person on the planet, and he’s evil… God kills every person on the planet except His Chosen Few, and he’s awesome!

      🙂

    • What do you need to finish your Neutrino Fission Blomb? I hear there’s an abundance of those Nutria Rat things in the swamps of Louisiana..

    • I’m invisible. I don’t talk to cops and NEVER post my picture or real name. Knock knock. Hi we’re the police, we want to talk to you about a post on TTAGs. Oh? Fuck off, lawyer.

  27. And yet, Little Johnny Class A triple Felon can’t have the facts of his last 2 felonies mentioned in court for the 3rd.

    Give that some thought, things he did, rather than things he mentioned?

  28. Sees boog boy freedom fighter posts

    Thinks he is a good kid.

    I know I am not the only one. When you say “hold against” you are only referring to one side who will try. Remember that, and speak your mind. That said, plenty of evidence on the opposing sides social media accounts to hold against them as well.

    THAT said… Who TF is still dumb enough to use social media? This place is one thing, because it’s anonymous, but facebook? twitter? instagram? etc etc… why? A business – maybe. All else – hell nah. Always VPN, always use a secure browser – like TOR, and always cover your tracks.

    Again, since we know they are watching footage and cameras are everywhere, HIDE YOUR IDENTITY. no unique gear that can be traced to online purchases. No family posting about your shit. Do not go to some of this shit and park your truck down the street. If you have to park 50 miles away and ruck in, you better wake up early and do that shit then ruck out too. Cover your face the entire time – ya know, to “stop the spread”. Don’t be stupid. All this “well he lived 30 minutes away” is bullshit. I don’t know about you, but my closest town, place where I work, shop, and everything else, is 40 minutes away. Damn right I’m rucking in if I need to. Do not make it easy for them – beit the violent leftists looking to dox you or the fed boi tyrants.

    All the same, he’s not guilty, and the “boog” mentality is a joke from freedom loving motherfuckers willing to die fighting for it. Welcome to the electric boogy mfers, you are in it.

    • Add to:

      – Amnesiac OS or extremely common one

      – Incognito Keeps super/persistent/flash/etc in memory instead of being written to your drive. Otherwise useless for anything but keeping your browser clean. Cookie removal plugins are nice, but keep an eye out. Some are siphoning your data back to the ideal masters. Wireshark and other network pen tools are great for analysis for verification.

      – Secure non-logging VPN, worth mentioning again because many mistakenly conflate them. Here. Use only those based in non-“eyes” countries, and further only those that specifically prohibit the countries gov intrusion by strong legal protections. Mine logs only connection time, overwriting that on the next connection.

      with kill switch to prevent leaks

      – VPN + TOR Make sure your vpn passes TOR traffic. Added layer. Defense in depth is the key to the entire kaboodle.

      – +1 TrillionTrillion on social media. Ditch it, you’d have been better off doing so back in ’08, but better late than never.

      – Sanitize your freaking photo’s & vid if you’re going to post them. Metadata embedded within can be used to track your camera back to you.

      – All commercially available hardware firewalls are back doored. Repurpose your old hardware, buy a proper NIC, and compile your own firewall from hardened high sec kernels. Set it to paranoid mode, stealth the only port allowed, disable all others. Download all of the available host files from reputable sources and install them. Set to auto check for update in whatever interval you feel comfortable with. Mine is 10 min. Don’t access terminal through Win 10, read on for why.

      – 2nd firewall in OS. Preferably HIDS/HIPS equipped. Also paranoid mode, also stealth ports.

      – MAC addresses. Frequently overlooked, changing them is easy enough, but I prefer not to have to deal with it all the time. Use a random mac changer instead, and automate it to reset your vpn connection after a small delay. Autohotkey or Autoit on windows. AutoKey, Sikuli, and Silktest for *nix. Even if your vpn has a generic everyone has the same MAC, still change your personal. Never can tell if a vpn is going to be compromised, and a MAC is considered a person by the courts, IP’s are not. See USSC ruling for details.

      https://www.scribd.com/document/92100289/K-Beech-Order-amp-Report-amp-Recommendation-Ordered-5-1-12#

      – Windows 10. Stay the hell off it if you don’t know what you’re doing. M$ admitted long ago the spyware is embedded in the kernel & cannot be removed.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/11/02/microsoft-confirms-unstoppable-windows-10-tracking/

      – Hardware firewall that give no f’s to M$ is critical here if you insist on running 10. Search for back ported 10 spyware in windows updates on 8/8.1/7 if your still using that OS. Expunge if they exist.

      – Recommend 10 Enterprise LTSC if you must, less spying, but still there. They shuffled some Cortana features into Enterprise’s Search.exe to fool business into thinking their secret data isn’t being spied upon. Not true. Verifiable through any network penetration tool. Prohibit from the external firewall because it will still access the mothership through other IR capable devices (your phone/tablet/etc) if you have those sensors on your system. Wifi too

      – IP provided Modem/Router/Wifi devices allow pub traffic through them on your electric bill. Solution: buy your own and stop overpaying in rental fee’s.
      I prefer a switch pre-firewall, wifi before that if you need it so all traffic is filtered by said firewall. Also, stop using dumb passwords that you can remember. Proper passwords with ultra high entropy like this are what you want:

      vnÁ^îN$mXÓD µ($[gÐÊSûkƦ92E’Ú7ûµ*<Ü~[´ûc(ëq:hz±o"ݽÁÌØ,£o©ÿ÷-`ÛÖ¹íôßyA´_cÏW£Ø8Õú?zÚvÅÝT¡ü¦Ñ°u䧱ÒnªwX]¸ç(Ää}£®Dã d³Ôé&Cxu(´

      Will take millennia to crack with brute force. Probably need to state the obvious, don’t use that one I posted. Use a password manager to keep track, on your system only. Not web based. Anything you can find in a dictionary is subject to a dictionary attack

      This is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s a start for most of you, but I don’t have time to write a book on personal sec & privacy on the web.

      • damn. I am certainly not that secure. Really just trying to hide all that donkey porn on torrents from my ISP 😉

        But seriously, if you go to these lengths for your home security, it can still be tracked but you’d have to really fuck up to get someone that invested in doing it. That said, I’d hope that if you do go to such lengths, you don’t carry or own any smart devices or a newer vehicle either. All the same, satellites, and constand watchful eyes on every corner are a little harder to avoid.

        • The fun part, is this is just for eluding corporate web spying, doxing, & privacy violations. As I said earlier in a different convo, don’t give them to much credit. If “they” were all that effective, all the terrorists would be hemmed up. The dark web would be a honeypot singularity, all the bad actor hackers would be in prison where they belong.

          Cherry on top, our illustrious director of the 3ffBeeEy3 wouldn’t be unsuccessfully begging congress critters for more money to hire higher tier hackers if everything were as compromised as most seem to think. Not mocking in the slightest, them’s just the facts.

          Any intel service would be proud at how compartmentalized my phone is. Also, nah, I hate modern cars, they have no soul. :p

          _________________________________________
          +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
          off-ish topic since privacy & security are on the table:

          Oh, and Dan, I can see every attempt to canvas fingerprint me. Tell them to give it up, all they’re getting is falsified data. Pixel was defeated before it was even in the wild (not that it’s used here). Pinging my stuff get’s you nowhere. 😀

        • Forgot to reply to one part, the sat & eye’s on. Beard & hair length get’s you judged, often erroneously. Should’ve been a bit more grey man, but hey, rugged individualism right? A large part of the reason I’m in the DGU legal quandary I’m in currently.

          Troglodyte perspective that I must’ve been in the wrong because I don’t conform. Which made it a-ok to make up a bunch of lies to get a dangerous beard off the street. They’re going to regret that, those falsehoods are exposed by their own video. Attorney’s gonna field day this one, if they ever deign to set a solid court date & stop fucking around. I’ve got a few Tb of surveillance vid proving reasonable restraint, as well as exactly who the instigator & aggressor are. I’m just cooling heels until. My case is solid & irrefutable, so there is hope. However, I’ll say this. If I get railroaded for that asshole’s crime against me…

          On my feet, indeed. Everyone involved in it is going to pay most dearly, even if it’s the last thing I ever do.

          This time next month, hopefully I’ll have a better idea of the direction this is heading, but it’s all hurry up & wait preliminary bs lawyer, prosecutor, judge “conference”. I’m betting their going to offer a “deal”, no goddamned way I’m taking a ding while being innocent. Especially when another is hanging overhead to excise my rights. Since March, I’ve been waiting. More I can’t say under attorney’s advisement, nothing but oblique references as he said. So here we are.

          Sorry for dumping this on you, but I don’t have anyone to talk with outside of my attorney, and it isn’t easy being alone in this. I don’t have Rittenhouse level support behind me, not at all that I resent that. I do have something he doesn’t, and that being the threat’s in close proximity still, while I have to do a balancing act on the legal tightrope in high wind. High stress situation being DEFCON 1 all the time with the rest hanging in the air.

        • 9×39:

          I hope you are involved in “community activity” in whatever state you live in.

          It would be a shame to let such talent go to waste. So much potential for exposing, well, the 2020 shapers.

          Come to Montana. Plenty of room to setup mobile operations 😉

  29. Well, shut up and eat your damned socialist peas, Patriots…..

    Um, no. And fuck ya’ll, fuck all ya’ll who ‘thought shame’ and think you can manipulate others this way.

    Eat shit and die, and I mean that literally.

  30. Never had a social media account and never will have one. I do not even like making comments on TTAG to be monitored in the future when the Commycrats might take over.

  31. They’ll get nothing from my social media posts. I don’t do Twitter, Facebook, etc.

    They might get something from this site or Disqus if they can figure out who Mad Max is.

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