Well, isn’t that cozy? A top Obama donor is the founder and CEO of a company that will soon control about one half of all medical data on Americans. She’s 85. Just graduated from college. And already has herself a job. Ray Manzarek is dead. Jim Morrison might have gotten most of the press, but Manzarek was the real genius behind the haunting sound of The Doors. “Some of my best friends are germs.” Long, but fascinating. Maybe a leisurely weekend read.(H/T S) You see the wonderful thing about equality for women? We get equal opportunities for political corruption —…
Author: Claire
I know this is breaking news, which means it’s subject to every error and wild speculation. But this is weird. The FBI is “questioning” a man (and apparently has him in their custody and control, according to another person they were also “questioning”). They’ve gone to the man’s apartment in the middle of the night (or “Wednesday morning after midnight” in the Orwellian way these things are put now). And after some substantial long time of having control over him for this “questioning,” they kill him? They shoot him to death? Yeah. Weird. Name was Ibragim Todashev. Friend of Boston…
A friend and I got to talking about the deeper implications of Cody Wilson’s “alarming” achievement (which, naturally, has already been trumped and will soon be trump-trump-trump-trumped ad infinitum). My friend said that the real achievements will be in 3D-printed firing mechanisms and make-at-home-and-throw-away magazines. (Perhaps he’ll come here and give a more thorough explanation than I just did.) As far as firearms go, that may be correct. But he got me thinking about the broader, long-term implications of 3D printing. Cory Doctorow speculated about that clear back in 2006 in his short story “Printcrime.” (Amazing foresight there, CD.) So…
Lessons from the singing spaceman (and a reminder of how only NASA could ever have made outer space so darned dull). Beretta says bye-bye Maryland. The Lulz Liberator. This one was made on a cheaper printer, fired multiple shots, and has a rifled barrel. Nope, you really can’t stop the signal. “We’ve comforted ourselves in all of this with the belief that, while government might potentially have all of this power, it would rarely use it or that, when it did, its use would be well-intentioned and circumscribed. Plus we had rules and systems to stop any abuse: The Bill…
Great piece from the great Paul Rosenberg. Smuggling as free trade and a boon to mankind. Which may be why the history books don’t like to talk about it?
Funny how freedomista books can turn up out of the blue, disguised as something else. Two such landed in my hold box at the library this week. I went online, searching for the parody The Dangerous Book for Dogs. In the mysterious ways of the library’s search engine, the words “dangerous” and “dogs” popped up a few other titles, as well. Children’s books. Hm, I thought. Pretty soon both Dangerous and two other titles were waiting for me. While I expected to be just mildly entertained (because a good kid’s book is a good book, and usually easy on the…
“Sovereignty without Territoriality?” (H/T Hobbit) Anybody seen Mud yet? A friend recommended it glowingly and it’s at 98% on RottenTomatoes.com — almost unheard of for a live-action feature. Become your very own spy agency with these secret! NSA! Google! Tips! (Creepy, and a far cry from a Orphan Annie Decoder Pin). (Tip o’ hat to JJ) Speaking of creepy: Skype. It could have been very non-creepy. But it’s a M*******t product; so what can you say? It’s creepy. (H/T Wendy McElroy) Oh, that laugh-a-minute IRS. Turns out they also gave supposedly “private” info on conservative groups to a liberal group.…
Because, you know, “survival-types aren’t known for being the most socially suave category of people…” (Tip o’ hat to C^2)
With the veritable plethora* of scandals abounding now in Obama’s DC, it’s fun wondering which will become the Scandal du Jour — that is, the one that’ll last more than a week. No, the scandal that lasts won’t be the horrendous treatment of prisoners in Gitmo or the slaughter of children via drones. Though both are outrages of war-crime proportions, those are just the usual ho-hummers. No doubt most Americans wish more furrin’ kids would be blown to smithereens and would rejoice if everybody in Gitmo were waterboarded six times a day. Will the lasting scandal be Benghazi? Probably not.…
Tsk, tsk. As usual I’m behind in noticing that one of my print articles has gone online. This time it’s “Preparedness Basics” from the current (June 2013) issue of S.W.A.T. magazine. I’ve been doing a series of preparedness-related articles for them. And they’ve been doing some other excellent preparedness articles covering everything from canning meat to vehicle survival kits. Although cool! guns! cool! gear! smart! tactics! is still their focus, I love they way they’re returning to their survivalist roots. My current article is a checklist of fundamental preparedness needs. Take the challenge and see how ready you are. If…