Swarms of tabs are buzzing ’round my head again. Some contain news that fills me with such loathing I can’t decide whether to blog about it or run for cover. I’ll avoid the most loathsome for now and merely blog the good, the bad, the indifferent, and the funny to clear my browser and my head.
- The NSA disguised itself as Google to enable even more spying. Part of me says this is bad in the same sense that the CIA’s longstanding practice of disguising its agents as journalists is bad (for the health of actual journalists). Part of me sez, “Hey. Wait. You mean somebody still thinks Google isn’t the NSA?”
- BTW, Google may owe you money.
- Beer goggles. They’re apparently two-way. So sez some of the latest Ig Nobel Prize-winning research.
- Bravo, Adaptive Curmudgeon! He finds the guy with the world’s worst job (hint: it involves writing government memos). (Via Tam.)
- Got an E-Z Pass (or your local equivalent of one)? You’ll be very unsurprised to learn that you’re not solely being tracked at tollbooths. Article applies only to NYC, but was sent by S, who’s pretty sure the same thing’s happening where he is, also. Convenience. Why do we expect we’ll never be made to pay — and pay and pay — for it?
- Oh goodie. Our Masters now want to decide who’s an authorized journalist and who isn’t. If this goes anywhere, those without a federal stamp of approval would not be entitled to First Amendment freedom-of-the-press protections. Hm. We’ll see about that …
- News of the weird: Did the Vatican steal Jesus’s … um, body part?
Oh well, gotta laugh about it all. Here, thanks to Brian Wilson, is the ObamaCare version of the Capitol Steps’ “Ten Pills and You’re Fine”:
So is Keith Alexander a Bond villain? His old office.
The pill video is hysterical… and so true. Sad, but true.
Have not seen any doctors or taken any pills for eight years now. Best thing I ever did for myself. š
Oh, Claire, where do you find such stuff? I absolutely loved the pill video!
Thanks for posting it. I agree with Mama Liberty…best thing to do is wean yourself down.
PS. and about the holy penis…
Makes me shudder.
NSA disguised as Google? How about the FBI taking control of a hosting company.
I was just thinking about EZpass/iPass possibilitites last week. In Illinois, if you register your car (make/model/color/lic. plate number) on the iPass web site, you will not be in violation when passing through a toll WITHOUT the ipass unit.
Handy for motorcycles, for one thing, but maybe we should all leave the unit at home and exploit this loophole to prevent unexpected RFID reading by other entities. Of course, they’ve covered that,
“If a vehicle registered with I-PASS passes through a toll collection without the transponder, the toll amount will be automatically deducted from the respective I-PASS account via a “video toll” (a camera picture of the license plate as the car passes through the toll gate or open road tolling apparatus is taken), though if the feature is abused, the regular fines for toll evasion are applied, and the I-PASS may be revoked.” wikipedia
I also wonder, in addition to iPass, video OCR for license plates, and bluetooth, what other signals might be traceable as you pass by in your car? Do ECM’s typically emit a fingerprint?
I have no sympathy for the faceless bureaucrat who has the worst job in the world. I have worked among them, and figured out how the neural spasms within their skulls congeal into something resembling thought. Their concept of right and wrong are thus: If I want to do it and can justify it, it is right. The most common justification is “because somebody deserves it for being an other”, but with more legal sounding terms. “Because somebody might be a terrorist, that is justification for mistreating whomever I choose” is another argument.
Let’s not forget the libertarian (or maybe I should call it “libertarian”) contribution to the “tracking us everywhere” syndrome:
http://cascadepolicy.org/blog/2009/01/conceptual-approaches-to-road-finance-reform/
When Cascade folks came up with this idea I pointed out to them that it would eventually lead to us being tracked everywhere. They pooh-poohed my concerns. Guess I was right after all. I stopped supporting Cascade after this and after their love affair with “school choice” (just another government welfare program). I don’t have much use for the “policy institutes” any more…
As to that missing penis bit, I understand that Napoleon is interred at Les Invalides, minus his penis. Apparently the British absconded with it. Figures…
Did you know that one of the earliest sub-atomic particle detectors was invented by a physicist sitting in a bar, wondering how the bubbles in his beer formed?
Got some tech solutions for tracking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maIsH2Nf2IU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKcAesDBlQc
Of course that is only when the car is off, otherwise you will draw some attention, heh. On the sport bike on the other hand, those guys just run away from cops a lot of the time so the plate flipper is definitely usable on the road. Makes me want to buy another sport bike, just to be naughty. I had a Yamaha YZF600R for a while but it had a few things about it that I didn’t care for and my hands can’t take the pressure any more. But it sure handled…
Paul — I love it. And I love that the one is called Ghost Plate! Great Outlaw name.