Source for those who can’t see the embed.
Category: Government
Government evils — but I repeat myself
Source. Via Wendy. Comments at the source are well worth reading. I usually don’t ask political questions. But signs are that this “interesting” week in Egypt will have repercussions that are long-term, widespread, and personal. So … Was it a coup, a revolution — or simply a restoration of the revolution that began in Tahrir Square in the Arab Spring? What will the repercussions be — for U.S. policy, for Obama, and for freedom anywhere? The U.S. government has a history of “backing the wrong horse.” Nothing new there. But the potential consequences seem unusually large this time.
It’s funny how even before reaching the current heights of government supremacy, we were all taught that government is virtually a holy thing. Even the fabled Founders, who had every reason to be skeptical of coercive power and who gave us words to transform the world, clearly thought they were undertaking a sacred task when they sat down to write the documents directing the new country. Though some of them weren’t religious in any sense and a majority were quite specific about keeping government and religion away from each other, they spoke of God a lot, as if he were…
Sign reportedly placed in a Lakewood, Ohio, park. I would be happy to have someone report that it’s a joke:
Might have been too busy to post. Not to busy to collect tabstuff. If I fail to credit sources it’s because I’ve forgotten where some of it came from. Sigh. “How to disappear without a trace.” Not in a good way, unfortunately … Quietly, with almost no notice even in the financial press, France has outlawed any mailing of currency, coins, or precious metals — a ban that appears about to spread to other parts of Europe. What a coincidence that big, government-approved money launderers banks and investors don’t use mail to ship their loot resources. For the most part,…
You know how I usually view petitioning Our Glorious Leaders. It’s right up there with v*ting for usefulness. However, here’s a petition that deserves some attention: we petition the obama administration to: require that Syrian rebels receiving firearms and other munitions from the US Government receive only firearms legal for US Civilian ownership, and undergo the same background and security checks a US Civilian would, including appropriate NFA tax stamps, and waiting periods. I don’t know why anyone would want to arm those barbarians (and they’re barbarians on both sides of that conflict). I really don’t know why anyone who…
Well, look at that. Here all these years you thought Microsoft products were just buggy. But where the NSA and MS are concerned, those aren’t bugs; they’re features. (H/T H) New: Prism-Break.org. Products to use instead of the Usual Suspects.* One of those is StartPage, of course. And while you’re in the position of having to take their word for it, this is a pretty good statement of principle. Why skipping college could be a good idea. And UnCollege.org. Jim Bovard (that is, Mr. Bovard, according to the WSJ bio; have I been too informal all these years?) on the…
It’s starting to feel as if “20,000 at the bottom of the sea” isn’t even a good beginning.* A requirement of the 2008 law is that the NSA “may not intentionally target any person known at the time of acquisition to be located in the United States.” A possible interpretation of that language, some legal experts said, is that the agency may vacuum up everything it can domestically — on the theory that indiscriminate data acquisition was not intended to “target” a specific American citizen. NSA admits pretty much the whole shebang. Filthy, lying, spying, Orwellian, totalitarian, anti-Bill of Rights…
(Source And big H/T to WL.) —– I’ve been trying to figure out the worst thing about the NSA revelations and it’s been hard to put my finger on that. It’s not the loss of privacy. I hate that. I really, really hate that and I assume that everybody with a brain hates that. But it’s Not News. It’s not the destruction of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Again: hate, hate, hate — but Not News. It’s not the lies or the preposterous Hollywood scenarios the securitators are cooking up to obfuscate the fact that they’re spying on…
We must ban those deadly stiletto assault heels NOW! Well, that’s a different look at Snowden and the NSA … Medical marijuana. For our pets. (H/T. L) Hm. This is the first thing I’ve heard that makes me think a smartphone could be a great idea. (I’m sure there are other things; just none that grabbed me.) Double hm. What exactly is Governor Sandoval of Nevada up to? Might be worth the 15 seconds it takes, especially if it ticks off Bloomberg. While I disagree with her lumping us with “we,” whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has a point. (Heard on NPR…