- The TSA failed 95% of the tests to find explosives. But not to worry. They reliably found 95% of breasts, crotches, prosthetic limbs, knitting needles, and sippy cups. (H/T LA)
- Soooo, while we’re all rejoicing over the momentary illusion that the NSA will no longer be scooping up all our edata, the FBI
steps flies to the fore. (And where do they get all these Orwellian names? USA Freedom Act? Because it orders the phone companies to do all the collecting on behalf of the uber-government? Who do they think they’re fooling?)
- This month is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Not just a piece of paper, but the first time people (even if aristocrats) placed themselves, by both force and law, above a king.
- This week is also the 73rd anniversary of the death of one of history’s most evil men.
- The very definition of co-opting an idea whose reality they clearly don’t understand. (Tip o’ hat to PT)
- “I went paleo. And now I hate everything.” 🙂 (H/T MJR)
- Your awwwww dog story of the day, courtesy of webmaster Oliver.
- Your very much non-awwww dog story for the day. (Warning: sickening photos, though the dog has now been saved from the very worst.) Whoever did this to Caitlyn the dog should have the same thing done to them.
Wonderful dog rescue story for the Great Pyrenees. A dear friend has two adults, and now also has two (unrelated) puppies she intends to breed eventually. She’s had these great dogs around most of her life, and she says the only down side is the fact that they don’t live long. I have a picture around somewhere showing the big male with at least a dozen baby goats snuggled around him. Will try to find it…
Oh, that’s lovely, ML. Would like very much to see the photo. I think Pyrs are the most beautiful dog breed ever. Unfortunately, I do know of not one but two HUGE downsides to them: many of them are insane barkers (especially night barkers) and given the chance they’ll roam off for parts unknown and end up miles from home. Very independent dogs.
I imagine the TSA will use this failure to request increased funding for training and to purchase more useless high tech equipment from government insiders. Since we have had the symbolic resigning of the director, congress should feel free to move on.
The government will continue to collect bulk information against U.S. Citizens. Whether NSA does it, or the phone companies do, it it will continue. Since the majoritiy of Americans seem to be against it, the government will redouble their efforts to keep collecting. Doesn’t matter that it is against federal laws, the constitution and basic human decency.
You certainly do find some odd stuff Claire. Thanks, I think.
Zero Aggression’s ‘policy’ statement reminds me of the daily activities of gun owners. The big dog story is wonderful, but so are any rescued dogs. And the author is right about angels being furry. Nearly all the angels I’ve met have had 4 legs, and damned few of them had two. As for the Caitlyn story, I’d be hard pressed to stay out of prison if I knew of a case like that and found out who had done something so horrible to the dog. I hope the guy gets hard time, and gets what he deserves while in the pen. Animals have such genuine and open hearts that there is simply NO excuse for cruelty to them. I wish I could be more like that, but I’m damned already.
Great article on the Magna Carta. I’m a big fan of Dan Hannan and always enjoy his essays. (His little book “The New Road to Serfdom” is well worth reading.) And, for that matter, so is the Magna Carta itself. It’s not easy to find the actual (legible) text, but here is a good copy: http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/magna2.html As Hannan says, it’s the source of most of our legal system, and although on first glance not much of it appears to be strictly applicable today in reality its tentacles reach deep into our cultural core.
I do have one small quibble: Hannan writes that “As they [the American Revolutionaries] saw it, George III was violating the ‘ancient constitution’ just as King John and the Stuarts had done.” Not quite correct. It is true that the Declaration of Independence names King George specifically, and attributes to him various offenses and outrages as the justification for the rebellion (which was technically a secessionist movement rather than a true revolution). But in reality most of those offenses were perpetrated by Parliament, not by the King himself. So the Revolution was actually an assertion that the Magna Carta limited the powers not merely of the King but also of Parliament. (Hannan does briefly mention this difference between American and English conceptions of the Magna Carta, but then he proceeds to ignore it.) This subtle but important distinction found concrete expression in our own Constitution, which was designed to limit all aspects of the federal government (not just the executive), and to preserve the supremacy of the people.
Unfortunately, we have largely forgotten the lessons of Runnymede and the dangers of unfettered power. And we have largely replaced our historic common law structure (so esteemed by Hannan) with a system of statutory laws. Slowly but surely the American revolution has been transformed into the French version (minus the beheadings). This is not a good change.
The paleo thing was hilarious. And the upset commenter is pretty funny, too.
Back when I was a kid I figured out that the healthiest diet was probably based around the things humans evolved eating. And I still didn’t go “paleo”. I have worn smelly animal skins, made a “knife” from bone, wood, sinew, and pine sap, and slept on the ground by a fire- and have been called a Neanderthal by fuzzy little Kumbaya statists- but what other people choose to buy or grow or hunt and eat isn’t any of my freakin’ business.
I enjoyed the paleo rant even though I aspire to eat more meat and less flour. I’m good at rationalizing the consumption of chocolate cake, though.
Of course the data collection goes on. It’s simply been a bit more bureaucratized, which does not bother the bureaucrats. That assumes the spooks don’t simply ignore the new law (which is where I’m betting). No one in this government will ever go to jail for collecting data. But at least the mainstream media got to crow in their headlines about beating NSA. Another lie competently delivered…
I suppose the silver lining is that if the NSA et al are as competent as TSA 95% of the data they collect will get lost on the way to the db anyway.
Perhaps it’s just my limited imagination, but I don’t see how they can sift that much data fine enough to find anything useful.