How to escape the culture of mass deception (via RLW in comments). Written from a conservative, not libertarian, perspective. But the basic point is good. Thailand investigates the U.S. ambassador for lèse-majesté — because he criticized lèse-majesté arrests. Never, but never, ever, did I think anybody would say this about marijuana. Never. Ugh. Big data to be the next trillion-dollar business? Oh, please … Socks. Containing urine. Circulated by walking. Generating electricity. Just because you’re inept and unprepared, buddy, doesn’t mean the rest of us are. (Still, the certification process sounds horribly inadequate if it was anything like he describes.)…
Category: Health and Science
In the wake of the foul jihadist murders in San Bernardino, we now have two new categories of weapons, according to politicians and the media. First comes “assault clothing” (H/T DB). Deadly outerwear is followed by “multi-automatic round weapons.” No word yet on what a M-ARW may be. Or on how clothing can kill. But be on the lookout for these new dangers. These are truly perilous times. “When ‘suspected’ is close enough.” Scott H. Greenfield is a little behind the curve in some of his information here. But his heart and head are certainly in the right place (Tip…
It’s here: the 3D-printed revolver. The hoplophobic panic will surely not be far behind. (H/T S) It’s also here: the first private space race. I doubt the Bezos vs Musk is quite as theatrically adversarial as the media would have us think. What a good thing, though, eh? May the best man win. Better yet, may both men win. Over at The Zelman Partisans Nicki turns to DC police chief Lanier and asks, “Take ’em out with what?” and I ask if the Jewish leaders of Europe have no sense of history or just no sense. Carl-Bear Bussjaeger also has…
Wow. Somebody thinks federal employees aren’t paid enough when compared with people in “similar private-sector jobs.” The article never explains what private-sector jobs are similar to … oh, career money confiscator, thug who tells businesspeople how to run their businesses, or professional killer of nursing mothers. Integrity. Doctors Without Borders refuses Pentagon money to rebuild Pentagon-bombed hospital. There is a war on Christians. It’s being conducted in the Middle East and to a lesser extent in the regulations of western governments. Not at or by Starbucks. F*c*b**k: Now testing a new form of creepy. Yes, it appears (certain) black people…
Willie Nelson’s crusade against big pot. This is good. Really, really looooooong, but good. Project Veritas does it again, as officials at Vassar and Oberlin attempt to save poor, offended students from pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution. And along those same lines … (short video; H/T MJR) The dead “hero”: just another corrupt, threatening cop. Making Shakespeare politically correct. And dumb. Kevin D. Williamson declares Obamacare dead. Jose Fernandez-Partagas: one of those weirdly fascinating footnote people. I discovered him in an endnote to Isaac’s Storm. Strange life, strange (but awesome) end. Makes you want to know what made him…
Take driverless cars, for instance. If we were in a less tech-perilous, tyranny-seeking time, I think most of us would be excited about them.
You and I may be skeptical about a specific new technology, but we tend not to be technophobes. We’re not ones who reject the new out of hand. We may not want to buy the first flying cars or be on the first ship to colonize Mars or the Moon, but we probably have friends who do want to and maybe even know a few who will. We jumped on computers years ahead of the average and were getting acquainted on BBSes before the Worldwide Web tempted slower adopters in.
So no, we don’t innately distrust tech.
Back to the “musings” shortly. In the meantime, I must beat back the tide of open tabs … “If bacon is so bad, I don’t want to live.” Leisl Schillinger is lying about that. She wants to live — and live boundlessly well. Wil Wheaton is right!. The growing trend to expect creative people to work for free, even for large, wealthy organizations, is insane and it’s destroying us. Okay, I know it’s a few days late, but these two really are the best Halloween costumes “We need more movies like Steve Jobs so long as they’re not like Steve…
Cop shoots murder victim’s mother in the leg; misses dog. EU Parliament votes to protect Snowden against U.S. extradition. Reforming school policing. While The Atlantic fails to ask some basic questions, its heart is definitely in the right place. It’s all part of the school-to-prison pipeline. And good old “zero tolerance.” 🙂 Everything you need for household repairs. Cannabis fights liver cancer. I’m not sure why even some good, aware people continue to be surprised that there is no justice from the Department of Justice.
Amish man sues to buy firearms without photo ID. Those secretive, usually warrantless stingray units? Turns out they can record the content of phone calls; not just act as a locator. (H/T MJR) Liberalthink: We MUST have the $15/hour minimum wage even if it puts people out of work. The news just gets more dire for Obamacare’s race to the bottom. Kevin Wilmeth asks, “How cool is Marilyn Williams?”, who defended her home with a precision air rifle (aka “sniper rifle” to the media). I’m not sure how the term “social justice warriors” (SJW) came into such popular use. But…
So yesterday my night ended at 2:00 as I woke up thinking about the ancient and idiotic practice of doctors bleeding patients. (And I don’t mean bleeding them in the Obamacare sense, but in the opening-veins or applying leeches sense.) My face was throbbing from this cold. With every heartbeat I felt my stuffy forehead and cheeks pulsing, and for the first time I understood why those old-timey doctors, with so little to go on, concluded that diseased bodies were loaded with excess “humours” that needed to be released. At that moment, if some kindly old quack had offered to…