California Will Now Mandate Permission To Us Any Operating System

Posted on March 2, 2026 by The Political Hat

     Starting in the year 2027, the state of California will require you to get verification before you can use an operating system. This applies to all operating systems. AB 1043 mandates that your age be verified by the providers of any operating system you want to use, with this being implemented in the operating system itself.

     While for now the new law requires only a user submit an age, which superficially seems to be a low hurdle for use, it lays the technical groundwork to allow or stop anyone from from using any operating system with whatever future requirements needed that the state may request and require.

     In other words, you must ask for permission to use a computer… which the government is now empowered to deny. This is the type of authoritarian control that North Korea would envy!

     The immediate effect of this bill, beyond creating the framework for an authoritarian regime, is to make many operating systems, where such implementation is impossible, illegal in California.

“The law defines ‘operating system provider’ as anyone who ‘develops, licenses, or controls’ an OS. That includes Linus Torvalds. It includes the FreeBSD foundation. It includes every hobbyist who maintains a Linux distribution. The penalty is $2,500 per affected child for negligent violations, $7,500 per intentional violation.

“Linux distributions don’t have ‘account setup.’ They don’t have app stores with handshake APIs. Most don’t even have mandatory user accounts. The law assumes every computing device works like an iPhone, with a centralized identity system and a curated marketplace.”

     Worse, this is spreading to other states, with Colorado considering a similar law.

     Already, people are ceasing sales and distribution in California of free operating systems. The DB48X project, which “intends to rebuild and improve the user experience of the HP48 family of calculators”, will no longer allow residents of California and Colorado to use their software.

     The FreeBSD based MidnightBSD will not exclude residents of California from its license to use. This is particularly ironic since “BSD” stands for “Berkeley Standard Distribution”, which is now banned in Berkeley itself!

     Remember, whenever they say “it’s for the children” in order to protect them, its actually about controlling adults.

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News of the Week (March 1st, 2026)

Posted on March 1, 2026 by The Political Hat

 

News of the Week for March 7th, 2026


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Firing Line Friday: Sports, Persecution, and Christians

Posted on February 27, 2026 by The Political Hat

     In the hopes of encouraging a more civil, and illuminating, discourse, here is another episode of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s “Firing Line”.

     Politics yet again creeps into the Olympics, much as it did sixty years ago, when William F. Buckley, Jr. and Arnold Henry Moore Lunn discussed the question of sports, persecution, and Christians.

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Quick Takes – Dead Canadian Babies: Newborn Babies Euthanized; Disabled Babies Euthanized; Poor Babies Euthanized

Posted on February 26, 2026 by The Political Hat

Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: “From cradle to grave” in a single day.

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

Death, Rx

     Canada learned if from the Dutch, and they were attentive students.

“In a more righteous world, allowing infanticide would make the Netherlands a pariah nation, but we have become morally stunted in the West, so what’s a little baby killing among friends? Many (but certainly, not all) in bioethics believe that killing babies that don’t suit us is morally acceptable — and not just Peter Singer. Indeed, the protocol was even published without criticism in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“So, let us not be shocked by Canada’s threatening infanticide rumblings. Instead, let us look clear eyed at the policies that logically follow from eliminating suffering by eliminating the sufferer, and turn back from the metastasizing euthanasia cancer before we lose what remains of our moral compass.

     Eugenics is back with euthanizing disabled babied. Yet again, Canada learned well from the Dutch.

“[T]he practice is legal in the Netherlands – the first country to adopt it since Nazi Germany did it in 1939.

“In 2022, Louis Roy from the Quebec College of Physicians raised the notion of euthanasia for babies up to a year old ‘who are born with severe deformations, very grave and severe medical syndromes, whose life expectancy and level of suffering are such that it would make sense to ensure that they do not suffer.’

“While parents already have the option of stopping treatment for babies suffering from medical conditions, the proposal would accelerate the infant’s death, sparking questions about consent.”

     Taking eugenics to the next level, apparently having poor parents is a euthanizable disease.

“Canadian physicians will soon be able to legally euthanize infants born into poor families or suffering from underlying health conditions.

“According to the Quebec College of Physicians, MAiD might serve as a viable intervention for infants experiencing intense suffering, with parents deserving the right to pursue this option on behalf of their child.”

     TTFN.

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Colorado vs. BOTH The 1st & 2nd Amendments

Posted on February 24, 2026 by The Political Hat

     If it ain’t one right enemies of the Bill of Rights go after, it’s another… and sometimes multiple at the same time. Such is the case in Colorado which wants to ban not only any computer assisted manufacture of firearms, but make the “distribution” of the design/instructions illegal. The proposed HB 26-1144 invents multiple new crimes, including:

  • Manufacturing or producing a firearm, unfinished frame or receiver, large-capacity magazine, or rapid-fire device (firearm or firearm component) by 3-dimensional printing. The prohibition does not apply to a federally licensed firearm manufacturer.
  • Possessing, in circumstances that indicate intent to manufacture a firearm or firearm component in violation of state law or intent to distribute, digital instructions that may be used to program a 3-dimensional printer or a computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine to manufacture or produce a firearm or firearm component. The prohibition does not apply to a federally licensed firearm manufacturer who possesses digital instructions in circumstances that indicate intent to manufacture a firearm or firearm component.
  • Distributing digital instructions that may be used to program a 3-dimensional printer or CNC milling machine to manufacture or produce a firearm or firearm component.

     So, it’s OK to do it the old fashioned way by hand, but as soon as a computer or program is involved, it become a Class I misdemeanor and then a class 5 felony… all for simply using a computer to help do what this law does not criminalize, per se!

     This bill bans mere possession of the electronic design/code with “intent to manufacture” or even just the mere possession if you share it, including sharing it online from anywhere in the world. So yes, you could be a criminal simply for sharing a design file usable by a 3D printer or computer assisted milling machine online.

     It’s only a matter of time before they submit an amendment to this bill that requires quartering of troops in the house of anyone who possesses such electronic files to make sure you don’t share otherwise legal information.

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News of the Week (February 22nd, 2026)

Posted on February 22, 2026 by The Political Hat

 

News of the Week for February 22nd, 2026


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Firing Line Friday: Resolved: That the Marketplace Is Not a Social Enemy

Posted on February 20, 2026 by The Political Hat

     In the hopes of encouraging a more civil, and illuminating, discourse, here is another episode of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s “Firing Line”.

     With both major political parties in this day and age becoming skeptical, if not outright hostile, to the free market and lured by the desire to control it for some common good, let us look back thirty years ago when William F. Buckley, Jr., Andrew Stern, Robert D. Hormats, Robert Kuttner, David A. Levy, Jerry J. Jasinowski, Mark J. Green, and Edward Luttwack, with moderator Robert Shrum debated the resolution “That the Marketplace I Not a Social Enemy”.

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Quick Takes – Green Madness: Wafflestomping; Feminist Queer Ecologies; Outlawing Animal Agriculture

Posted on February 17, 2026 by The Political Hat

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: Just when you thought it couldn’t get more crazy than queer feminists wanting to liberate animals, they get even more disgusting.

     First, a little waffle segment:

     Carrying on…

     Apparently the newest craze for eco-nutballs is pooping in the shower and… ewww.

“Wafflestomping. The name itself conjures up fond memories for many, and cold sweats of fear for others. For the uninitiated, a quick summation of the stomping movement is perhaps in order. The wafflestomp derives its name from the Belgians, who were the first to practice ‘the stomp’ in the mid-18th century, and involves the pressing of one’s excrement down the drain of one’s shower, or la douche as the French affectionately call it.

“Undoubtedly, we live today in an environmentally conscious world, where recycling is paramount and natural resources are in short supply. Amidst this push for a cleaner world, wafflestomping has become an integral part of any environmentalist’s morning routine. Not only does wafflestomping significantly reduce water consumption, combining showering and toileting into one progressive activity, but it also reduces deforestation, as wafflestomping rids us of the need for toilet paper, turning instead to the gentle stream of a warm shower.

“Furthermore, countless men and women across the world know the utility of a wafflestomp in a time of crisis. Whether it be a date to the Indian restaurant down the road or some funky sushi, the privacy and noise protection of the shower provide the perfect cover to destroy the evidence, and the steaming water a biblical cleansing of your sins.

“Opponents of the wafflestomp will contend that the sheer variety of waffles in our society make the wafflestomp a high- stakes activity, with the average punter unprepared for all the variegated waffles life may throw at him. What this argument fails to understand is that variety is the spice of life—a waffle’s variety is what makes the stomp so satisfying, and to take that away would be to take away one of life’s greatest joys.

“Even well-intended opponents of the wafflestomp are sheepish to admit that a well-executed stomp is hygienic and effective. The issue lies therefore not in opposing the wafflestomp—a draconian measure to say the least—but in educating people on proper techniques. Many institutions have already done amazing work in this area, such as the University of Melbourne’s Safe Stomping Standards, a program currently being taught in high schools across Australia.”

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News of the Week (February 15th, 2026)

Posted on February 15, 2026 by The Political Hat

 

News of the Week for February 15th, 2026


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Firing Line Friday: Firing Line 1966-1986: A Potpourri of Persuaders

Posted on February 13, 2026 by The Political Hat

     In the hopes of encouraging a more civil, and illuminating, discourse, here is another episode of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s “Firing Line”.

     Sometimes, it’s important to just sit back and hear criticism or even just friendly roasting. As it ought to be now, as it was then back when Firing Line and William F. Buckley, Jr. heard from George S. McGovern, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Edward F. Prichard, Allard K. Lowensein, Margarett Heckler, Helene Middleweek Hayman, Pater Riddell, Phylis Schlaffy, Mark J. Green, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Stephen J. Solarz, Rosalyn Tureck, June Evans, Tom Wolfe, Roger Evans, Jeff Greenfield, and Robert Shrum.

     Until next Friday.

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