Swarms of tabs are buzzing ’round my head again. Some contain news that fills me with such loathing I can’t decide whether to blog about it or run for cover. I’ll avoid the most loathsome for now and merely blog the good, the bad, the indifferent, and the funny to clear my browser and my head. The NSA disguised itself as Google to enable even more spying. Part of me says this is bad in the same sense that the CIA’s longstanding practice of disguising its agents as journalists is bad (for the health of actual journalists). Part of me…
Category: Humor
Loving a bad dog. (Oh yeah. Been there …) News of the weird. Shelley’s Ozymandias. Um … with socks. Wall Street deals in physical commodities. Commodities producers operate hedge funds and sell derivitives. And there, and there, and there go the trillions. I really like Ricky Gervais and I want to see this. For anybody who still doubts that Edward Snowden did the right thing. Won’t get anywhere. Not enough. But the Surveillance State Repeal Act is a start. Yes, we already know that the fedgov is run not merely by narcissists but by full-blown sociopaths. Still, this Salon piece…
It’s gotten easier and easier to become a “terrorist” in the government’s eyes. Buy too many MREs. Join a Tea Party group. Get the same tattoo that your friends have. Talk too much about religion or the Constitution … all of that — and more! — puts you in the “if some jerk sees something, s/he’s supposed to say something (about YOU!)” category. But frankly, people, some of you are just too lazy. Too lazy or too blandly innocuous even to qualify as a terrorist suspect by those lax standards. All your friends are making their way onto “lists” or…
Rugby, while not as bizarre as cricket, remains a mystery to me. But I’ve always gotten a kick out of the New Zealand AllBlacks and other Pacific Island rugby teams performing fierce, tribal hakas at each other before games. Today I learned from Borepatch that — srsly? — the good Mormons of Brigham Young University also perform a haka before rugby games. Yes. I agree it’s mind-boggling, Borepatch. Mormon haka. But I can do ya one better.* 😉 This is one of several (wouldn’t you know it) Mormon missionary hakas on YouTube: So yes. Mormon haka. Still boggles the mind,…
This song is for Joel. For reasons — really paaaaaainfully — obvious to anyone who’s been following his blog for very long.
If you’re old enough, you remember when Russian dissidents thought they were better off to defect to the U.S. Such a long, long time ago. Really long … Reason # 4,386,542 to be leery of Facebook. Odd one. Viral humor. I was really trying to avoid the Heidi Yewman Ms magazine saga (ignorant hoplophobe forces self to carry a gun for a month and reports on how icky it made her feel to, like, have to be aware of her environment and, you know, have grown-up responsibilities and all). Even when Joel had at Ms. Yewman in his inimitable style,…
“And if he could just give up [his addiction to running for office], he could live a full, productive life as an internet sex freak!” “Predator student loans.” Why are so many commentaries so good at analyzing problems and so lame at naming real solutions? Your “representatives” like spying on you. Even when they aren’t personally allowed in on all your secrets. I guess we can comfort ourselves that the vote was at least impressively close. Oh yeah. Now this is a not-bright idea. In more ways than one. The other day we linked to economist and actor Ben Stein.…
Another unexpected consequence in the (very long) wake of Hurricane Sandy: the millionaires’ missing wine. A fascinating only-in-New-York kinda story. Now that’s one young lady you don’t want to trifle with. Economist, commentator, and actor (“Bueller?”) Ben Stein makes one of the wisest observations following the Martin/Zimmerman case. In this, his thinking is a lot like Martin Luther King, Jr.’s. SF/fantasy writer Larry Correia gives Stein some competition. Or at least gives Obama’s whiny, divisive speech (“I’m Trayvon and you’re all a bunch of racists”) its very best fisking. Followed by some voice-of-experience from being a big, dark, scary-looking guy…
“Stop, Drop, and Cower.” The official DHS guide to safe interactions with government agents. 😉 (H/T David Codrea) Rockin’ Gramma. Yet another (particularly egregious) act of fedgov terrorism and thuggery. Under what authority is Eric Holder ordering Sanford, Florida, police to keep holding Zimmerman’s gun? I already dropped this link into comments, but for you who don’t follow the Commentariat, here’s Justin Raimondo’s excellent piece “Is America a Free Country?” StartPage and IXquick offer an advance in search encryption. Via Borepatch: