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Author: Claire

Finally, the election’s getting interesting

Published October 28, 2016 1:04 pm by Claire

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 …

Published October 28, 2016 8:03 am by Claire

… 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

Published October 28, 2016 6:47 am by Claire
  • 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.
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    • Midweek links

    Published October 26, 2016 12:02 pm by Claire
  • 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.)
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    • The role of the Outlaw in the betterment of society

    Published October 25, 2016 1:37 am by Claire

    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

    Published October 24, 2016 7:18 am by Claire
  • 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.
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    • Sunday links

    Published October 23, 2016 1:57 am by Claire
  • Actual support for “gun control” is so lacking that the Clinton campaign chose to fake a supportive editorial.
  • Of course, we know there is plenty of support for “gun control” — in the most insanely misguided way. Hate to see somebody legally carrying a firearm? Does his potential “violence” offend you? Just grab his gun and shoot him. (And hopefully go to prison for a very long time.)
  • Google, having left “don’t be evil” long in its past, has now breached the never-very-solid barrier of supposedly anonymized tracking. They’re tracking you by name wherever you go. On a strictly voluntary basis, of course. For now.
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    • Would anybody object …?

    Published October 22, 2016 11:40 am by Claire

    … if I ran some Amazon ads at the bottoms of blog posts in November? Amazon is offering a 12% commission (i.e. big; really whopping big) on purchases made from “native ads” during the month. The ads would look like the two below (which are just screenshots, not functional ads). Each is based on a single keyword chosen by me (in the first case “SHTF” and the second “tech”) and receives product feeds from categories I know are popular with blog readers. Ads would display anywhere from four to eight products. If you’re using an ad blocker, you’d only see…

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