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Category: Cultural insanity

Midweek musings

I got up early this morning and the quality of the moonlight slanting in from the west was so striking it reminded me of that old barbershop quartet song. Orion appeared above the trees, fully visible for the first time this season. Through a trick of the light, it stood alone. While moonlight and mist obscured most stars, Orion was clear and strong. Even the fuzzy “stars” of his sword were visible. Although generally when it comes to the sky I couldn’t tell Cassiopeia from the Perseid meteor shower, I learned to love this constellation when I was a kid…

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Tuesday links

  • J.D. Tuccille on Google and privatized authoritarianism.
  • If there’s a hell, a very low ring should be reserved for petty bureaucrats who use the law against good, kind, brave people. The charges against Tammie Hedges for administering medicine to rescued pets and “soliciting a controlled substance” are barbaric. Good thing her legal fundraiser is surpassing all expectations.
  • The U.S. is about to get its first “robot brothel.” Don’t expect this to be The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. (H/T DB)
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  • Monday links

  • Solar panels replaced paving on several roadways. For the environment and the climate and all, you know. Results were predictably underwhelming. Quite expensive, too.
  • Commander Zero, who knows whereof he speaks when it comes to preparedness, says Joel’s current experiment in living off an Augason Farms emergency food kit won’t end happily. I’m pretty sure Joel would have agreed from day one.
  • Speaking of which, Wired says that the science behind disaster preparedness kits is a disaster. They have suggestions some of us might not agree with, but the article’s interesting.
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  • Midweek links

  • The prosecution of Cody Wilson for having sex with an underage prostitute absolutely reeks of being a setup by enforcers pissed off that they couldn’t get him any other way. (H/T MP)
  • In July, it became the first cannabis company to go public on the Nasdaq. Tilray is making a lot of people rich. But it’s partying like it’s 1999, says The Motley Fool.
  • The fedgov gives itself permission to spy on journalists — another delightful use of the FISA system.
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  • Midweek links

    David French of the National Review calls Amber Guyger’s murder of a man in his own home “the worst police shooting yet.” I don’t know about that, but it certainly has all the elements, including favoritism and the typical cover story. From Wired: How to move a million people out of a hurricane’s way. Good luck, mid-Atlantean readers! She made it through Hurricane Harvey — though not necessarily well. Now Sara Cress gives advice on how to prepare for a flood. (NPR broadcast; not sure whether transcript will be online by the time this posts, but she mentions things people…

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    When everything is political

    Tuesday I painted under the eaves. Painting, unlike most other tasks I’ve been doing, is a good activity for thinking. My random thoughts that day were circling around Nike having reignited the “take a knee” controversy, using Colin Kaepernick’s protest in the most cynically commercial way. Now, Nike may see Big Bux in buying the face of the millionaire athlete who can now make money off that greatest of all contemporary triumphs — personal oppression. But the thing that’s always mystified me about the entire “take a knee” flapdoodle is why — on the first hour of the first day…

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    Monday links

  • I was waiting for somebody to say this. Although I don’t agree with it all, John McCain was one of the biggest authoritarians ever to infest Congress. He never met a freedom that he didn’t want to destroy. I’m sorry he died a terrible death, but I’m glad he’s no longer in the ruling class.
  • PC run amok. A NASCAR driver loses a sponsorship because of a dumb remark his father made 35 years ago.
  • Via Maggie’s Farm: Seven things I’d do if I wanted to keep poor people poor.
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