The End of the American Dream recently took apart two of the FBI’s infamous “look for a terrorist under every bed” brochures. You know, the ones that tell members of different professions whom they should report to the fedgov. In this case, one is a literal “look under the bed,” since the brochure in question addresses all us EEEEEvil terrorists who might be checking into hotels and motels. But as frequent-contributor MJR discovered, all manner of professions get their own terrorist-hunting help from the fibbies. (The differences and similarities between the flyers are fascinating.) Among other things, tattoo artists —…
18 CommentsMonth: February 2012
The recent, much touted not-actually-so-good news on jobs, gets an appropriate answer from Abbott and Costello. (H/T M.)
2 CommentsMost likely you haven’t been following the FBI’s so-called “African Sting” case. It’s a huge, expensive operation, but so obscure and technically complex that nobody but dedicated fiskers of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) pays much attention to it. I know about the case via Rich Lucibella, who knows and likes one of the defendants. At his instigation I wrote an article about it for S.W.A.T. a year or so ago. I don’t believe the article is online, but I can sum the case up in a couple of lines: The fibbies entrapped a bunch of small business people…
7 CommentsMatters are starting to reach a crescendo: Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58
Leave a CommentBut enough bad news. Since it appears we’re going to the dogs in any case, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Agility competitions for pipsqueak pooches. A writer whose specialty is dogs is saved by one. (H/T for this one!) Forty-two St. Bernards. Plus one tot. Adorable, but I’d hate to be the one who had to clean that yard. (H/T M.) And you may remember the foster dog who came to me in need of surgery to correct a rare birth defect. Well, he got his operation courtesy of our wonderful local vet, went into a prison-pet program for…
6 CommentsOffshore types are always advising us USians to get a second passport as a precaution against tyranny. I sympathize with this. As I’ve said before, if I were rich, I’d definitely have an offshore hidey-hole lined up, with all the real estate, bank accounts, and tricks of citizenship that that entails. But of course, that’s just the problem. Nearly all advice from the “get out while you can” crowd is directed at people who consider $500,000 to be spare change, not people who consider $500,000 to be some incomprehensible figure that can’t be totaled using any reasonable number of fingers…
13 CommentsIf you’re going to the big game today I’m sure this’ll make you feel wonderful, no matter who wins or loses: hot dog vendors with the skills and proclivities of the TSA. Of course, if you turn out to be one of the “suspicious” attendees, you won’t feel good at all if they use one of these on you. (And here’s a video.) But it could be worse, you know. All of which got me to wondering how the fedgov would handle somebody like Lawnchair Larry today. Or for that matter, any of us. So if you’re going to do…
6 CommentsWell, so much for that itty bit that’s left of the First Amendment. Capitol cops arrest documentary filmmakers trying to film a public hearing. (Tip o’ hat to MJR.) Judge makes the right ruling for a change in the case of a cop who taped over his badge. Did you see this strange story about a 12-year-old girl being protected by lions? MamaLiberty, a firearms trainer (among her other skills), discusses thought processes, techniques, and legalities of armed self defense on the BrushFires of the Mind podcast. Apparently she’s becoming a regular for those of you who enjoy listening to…
20 CommentsIf you read either Dave Duffy’s blog or Oliver Del Signore’s, you probably already know the saga of BHM senior editor John Silveira and his oddball classified ad. The ad, which appeared in BHM in 1997, became first an Internet meme and recently the basis of a movie, Safety Not Guaranteed. The film — a sort of sci-fi romantic comedy, I gather — premiered at Sundance last weekend to huge anticipation, sold-out houses, and critical raves. John was there and even earned himself a mention in some reviews. (Dave says John got applause from the audience, too.) The movie was…
Leave a CommentGood for people who’ve suffered brain injuries that affect speech. Bad in the long run for privacy. National Geographic is usually pretty good. But it appears their new series, which starts next week, sets out only to portray us all as loons. So much for progress. (Tip o’ hat to H.) Here’s a perfect example of the long arm of the U.S. government. Might not agree with this guy 100%. But bless his noble heart. (Nice backgrounder on him, too.) I’ll soon be reading his book. And here’s another doctor with courage — though it may be too little, too…
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