“A Few Thoughts on Current Events.” I wake up every day around two or three in the afternoon, make a cup of coffee and turn on the news, just waiting for the day when it finally happens, the day that something finally snaps, and I am listening to Sheppard Smith breathlessly trying to describe shaky video of a mob of 500,000 or 800,000 pissed off taxpayers that has invaded Washington and are lining every street in D.C., armed to the teeth, and erecting scaffolding on the National Mall. Actually, that’s not how I think it is going to go, but…
Category: Government
Government evils — but I repeat myself
The newest, most shocking, and “scientifically proven” danger from legal cannabis! Stoned bunny rabbits! Srsly. Not from The Onion. (H/T JW) “The Envy of Frank Underwood.” Is Netflix the prime mover (and prime beneficiary) behind federal control of the Internet? Ever call your credit card company’s customer service line? They might have secretly voice fingerprinted you. If it’s such a great idea to prevent fraud, why aren’t they being upfront about it? Seems all that shrill weirdness coming from the hoplophobe ranks recently isn’t just a side-effect of “gun control.” Even some of the most major distracting drivel is apparently…
Seems most of the commentors on this piece don’t understand the concept of the straw that broke the camel’s back. A reminder of how fragile the infrastructure of modern communications can be. (And here’s some analysis with links to some conspiracy theorizing.) The sad irony in Boris Nemtsov’s murder. “Dark Leviathan.” A darkly cynical look at Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road, the Darknet, and what the author believes is the inevitable fate of libertarian ideals. Someone needs to give this article a great fisking. F*c*b**k blocks a fundraiser to help a father reunite with his son. (Hint: the reason is G-U-N-S.)…
Verizon makes a sadly hilarious response to the FCC’s “Throwback Thursday” decision to apply steam-engine-and-telegraph standards to the Internet. Get another laugh by clicking on the translation. Prove your identity to Microsoft or they won’t “allow” you to use their products that you’ve paid for? (H/T cat) The author’s claims about U.S. tech losses thanks to snoopery are right on. Will now be interesting to see how U.S. residents and companies route around the new FCC regulations. Beware of being neighborly without a permit. Nice infographics show what’s allowed and what’s not in the four places that have now legalized…
(Source.) So if you haven’t heard by now (and there’s been surprisingly little coverage), the FCC is about to v*te to regulate the Internet. ‘Cause, you know, the ‘Net is just precisely like the telephone system in the 1930s and now there are all these terrible, terrible unfair things going on like people not being allowed to express their opinions big traditional media companies triumphing over blogs and social media … well, like something. Whatever it is, the fedgov MUST save us from it! Not only that, but tomorrow’s big v*te will be on a 300+-page secret plan that you…
Surprise, surprise. Yet another fedgov agency is operating a vast, covert, random surveillance program. Hm. Do they still sell those anti-cam sprays and films for our license plates? Gottlieb’s CCRKBA endorses Matt Shea’s bill to repeal I-594. And note the ringing anti-background check language! (She says, rolling her eyes.) I’m not linking to this CNN op-ed because it’s brilliant. On the contrary, it’s an astonishingly logic-free defense of Obamacare. I’m linking to it because it may contain one of the single most bizarre justifications of tyranny oxymorons ever to occupy the mind of a human being. To wit: “The ACA…
My apologies, all you people there on the upper east coast. I hear that the ghastly weather you’re having is our fault. Something to do with this monstrous ridge of high pressure plunging down on us; creates a monster low for you.
Believe me, I was thinking of you this afternoon while I contemplated whether or not I should wear the tee-shirt with a turtleneck or skip the turtleneck for a dog walk. I felt soooooo guilty.
To keep you busy and out of trouble this weekend. The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer. Free ebook on conservatives’ (but not just conservatives) attachment to authority. Seems to be well written (by a guy with a sense of humor, too). (H/T Y.B.v.A.) Three non-boring and pro-gun law review articles, including the must-read “Gun Owners, Gun Legislation, and Compromise” (pdf) by David Hardy.
Yeah, I didn’t believe it, either, when I read the news on Friday. Eric Holder — that Eric Holder — delivering a major kneecapping to America’s government-approved highway robbers? But Radley Balko believes it. So I believe it. Well, more or less. No question about it, federal “ownership” of local asset forfeiture cases has enabled forfeiture abuse like nothing else and has done more for police corruption since anything but … well, the drug war itself. (You’ve got to wonder; was there every anyone associated with this scam who truly believed it wouldn’t lead to corruption and injustice?) Having the…