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Month: October 2016

Finally, the election’s getting interesting

If you’re not vacationing on Mars today, you’ve probably heard that the FBI has reopened the investigation into Hillary’s emails. Eleven days before the election and supposedly (well, so they say) unrelated to the ongoing WikiLeaks email dumps. Annnnnd … it now appears that Anthony Weiner is involved! Or maybe it’s Huma. But the NYT says the new Hillary emails came from devices confiscated from the notorious Weinerflaunter after his third — third! — sexting scandal! (OMG, you don’t suppose the Weiner man was sexting with Hil … no, no, the thought can’t even be thunk. Too utterly disgusting, and…

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Although this applies only to the Pacific Northwest …

… it’s a good wake-up call for anybody who might face a widespread natural disaster (which is, of course, everybody). Last summer, a vast exercise called Cascadia Rising was quietly carried out through the Northwest. For government types and emergency-service providers only, it made barely a bump in the consciousness of ordinary people — which may prove to be the ultimate flaw in its design, but that’s a question for another day. Cascadia Rising was designed to test emergency response in event of a “full rip” earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone. Full-rip means a monster, a megaquake, 9.0 or…

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Friday links

  • Fred Reed: “The beginner’s guide to death throes.”
  • Kit Perez: “Does entrapment really make good people do bad things?” A must-read.
  • From Jim B. in comments. There’s yet another new nation, this time in space. Hm. Aside from the slight matter of inaccessibility, Asgardia already seems to have a suspiciously large number of government ministries (and a rigidly top-down structure) for someplace that claims to be about freedom. 11 Comments
  • Midweek links

  • Oh weep! Oh wail! Oh, such a tragedy. Some 100+ DMV offices in California were closed for business up to two days due to a presumed hardware glitch. (H/T ML) Seriously, though, this does give a preview of either a) TEOTWAWKI or b) election day; take your pick.
  • Hm. Seems Iceland isn’t the only country where clowns and jokers are rising in national politics. Italy, too. (Tip o’ hat to the elusive J)
  • Hardly news, but always a good reminder: activists must be on guard against entrapment. (Also: read Rats! the free no-snitch book and pass it around.) 11 Comments
  • The role of the Outlaw in the betterment of society

    The title of James Altucher’s article is “How Dylan Stole the Nobel Prize and You Can, Too.” But of course Altucher being Altucher (either an Outlaw masquerading as a mainstreamer or a mainstreamer cleverly pretending to Outlawdom), that’s not what he’s actually talking about. He’s parsing the Dylan/Hendrix song “All Along the Watchtower” (Hendrix classic version here). Which is, of course, a classic of Outlawry. Here are the lyrics: “There must be some way out of here” said the joker to the thief. “There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief. Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my…

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    Monday links

  • There should be a special hell — a very special hell — for so-called private companies that thrive by enabling mass, unlawful government surveillance. (H/T MJR)
  • I’ve complained of authoritarian bigotry from some of the most ardent Trumpists. But ain’t nothing compares with this from some San Francisco Clintonista, who wants Trump supporters to die and their houses to burn down. Unless this is particularly wicked satire, it’s additional evidence that the authoritarian left is more violent than the right in the U.S. will ever be.
  • Though I don’t, can’t, and won’t ever support Trump, I understand those who find themselves increasingly pushed in his direction. 15 Comments