Maybe you remember seeing the strange query and the photo via Reddit.com. The story of the California student who found a tracking device on his vehicle. Well, faithful blog reader Sam just found the follow-up. The FBI fetched back their device and, even though the young man was reportedly completely cooperative already, an agent told him, “We’re going to make this much more difficult for you if you don’t cooperate.” I know that any empathetic person, especially one who’s been observing the onward march of the jackbooterie, can imagine how it feels to be on the receiving end of those…
Category: Government
Government evils — but I repeat myself
A federal judge rules that it is constitutional for Our Glorious Leaders to force us all to buy health insurance. Ain’t freedom grand? And guess which clause of the Big Con justifies it. Just have yourself one tiny little guess. It won’t take long. Yeah, I know. This won’t be the last decision on the matter. And you can call it tyranny all you like (and you’ll be right). But it’s getting downright funny, the many ways in which that old Constitution can be folded, spindled, and multilated. The logic, if you can call it that, is hysterical. Actually, it…
I’ve got a question to open up for comments. It feels like a dumb question — even a prejudiced one. But I have to ask it. Is there something about banking that’s inherently immoral or corrupting? I know bankers (“usurers”) have been hated throughout history. But I always figured that was mainly sour grapes and jealousy of anyone who has or controls money. It’s always seemed to me that bankers provide a needed service and one worth paying for. It also seems that banking, as a profession, is one that ought to inspire the greatest trust and trustworthiness. Granted, it…
Good CounterPunch op-ed on why the “peace” president, the “openness” president, and the “dissent is patriotic” president is sending the FBI to terrorize anti-war organizers, calling the peace activists terrorist supporters. Hm. Barry Ritholtz is just discovering that the left-right political divide is bogus. He now sez it’s us vs corporations. Getting closer to the truth there, Barry. But still missing the point. Question (and A Clue) for ya: What’s the biggest corporate body in the whole, entire world? How come, in all the many articles about the CIA’s drone war in Afghanistan, nobody ever, ever, ever, ever, ever asks…
According to the New York Times (boldface and sarcastic remarks mine): Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone. … Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The…
According to a Rasmussen poll: “62% of Likely U.S. Voters believe that no matter how bad things are, Congress can always make them worse.” OMG, ain’t that the truth? And ain’t that an example of uncommon sense from the v*ters? And in the weird news of the day … faux “FBI agents” take the law into their own hands. And get arrested. Nice try, boys & girl. Nice try.
Well, okay. A good word for one cop, anyhow. In one specific circumstance. One of the little towns near here recently had a holiday weekend “do,” that included a kiddie carnival, a parade, a barbecue, and suchlike — along with a series of prominent locals volunteering for their turn in a dunk tank. You know the thing I mean: throw a ball, hit a target, and into a cold tank of water falls the mayor or the town’s richest citizen. Well, my friend Leslie, who found me my house, has a son who’s a cop in that town. (Yes, I…
This is what it looks like when absurd taxes, hyper-regulation, and high (yet not hyper) inflation make it impossible for ordinary people to trust their country’s money and institutions.
You know you have waaaaay too much government at every level when you repeatedly read stories like this one. And remember those no-down, 1-percent interest mortgages I goggled about a couple of weeks ago? Well, the USDA isn’t the only government outfit that has a darned weird idea of how mortgages should be handled in the post-bubble world. Sheesh! Via LRC.com: Project Vigilant. Do you get the feeling that the patriotic rhetoric — and the allegedly private financing — are just a smoke-screen? Via Joel and a whole lot of other places as the news spreads: Such a surprise! The…
Sunday night as I write this. I’m sitting amid the rubble of a whole weekend spent doing illustration. Pencils. Colored pencils. Scissors. Kneaded erasers. Tortillons. Paints. Odorless paint thinner. Markers. Tissue paper. Illustration board. Reference photos. As I say, rubble. And all this is strewn across the standard rubble that quickly takes over life when you live in a fifth-wheel and have to work, eat, and Web surf at the same tiny table. It’s so bad at the moment that when my fellow hermit Joel came over for dinner earlier he not only had to cook it himself — outside…