Such a sign of our times that the only public figures telling the truth are comedians. It reminds me of my favorite quote from when I was young and read Deep Thinkers. This one’s from Soren Kierkegaard: “A fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that’s how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it’s a joke.” BTW, here’s the latest in NSA paranoia: apparently we now…
Category: Privacy and self ownership
Owning our own information and telling Big Brother to get lost
I’ve been using the U.S.-based company Cotse.net for email and proxy services for many years, ever since I learned about it from S. Cotse gives good service at a good price. I’ve been a happy customer. There’s nothing at all wrong with Cotse. Except that it’s based in this increasingly thuggish surveillance state. Which has already driven more than one privacy-protecting company to shut its doors. I’m seeking a back-up service. I’ll keep Cotse, but I want to be using a Plan B if the feds drive them out of business, too. So I’ve been reading articles like this one.…
I’m still working on that blog post that requires Deep Thought. But with a deadline approaching, a construction project pounding away next door, a guy tearing a derelict bathroom out of my place, and Ava having gone insane from all the people around who won’t throw tennis balls*, Deep Thought is as impossible right now as endorsing Obamacare or v*ting for Michael Bloomberg. So for now here are some links. Here’s one of those news stories that’s no surprise at all to us political cynics realists but is still pretty stunning considering the MSM source: the Obama administration has known…
This is from Laird in comments. I even swiped the “process of elimination” joke. All I am here is the typist. Enjoy. Source
Oops. TSA accidentally reveals that even they don’t believe terrorists are likely to attack planes these days. The solution? make pre-flight security-theater checks even longer and more intensive. Of course! Another example of how reallly, reallly, reallly good the fedgov’s “security” people are at … um security. Medical pricing. How it should work. How it does work at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma. Not everybody, Harry. Speak for your own darn self. Tam knocks one out of the park. “How to build a happier brain.” (Seems our wiring is pre-set for emphasizing the negative.) Dems starting to want to push…
The truly privacy-paranoid reveal their methods. But I suspect some of you already have them beat. (EZ Pass? I mean, seriously, EZ Pass?) (H/T Ragnar for the find.)
This has been making its way around the gunblogs. I wasn’t going to link it because I’ve never had reason to care what the head of Interpol thinks about anything. But reader L.A. tipped the balance. And really, it’s quite something when the honcho of a global police agency comes out in favor of a well-armed citizenry — and recognizes that the only alternative is making us all “safe” via a lock-down security state. 2016: Looking back on Obamacare. Seattle is using eminent domain to seize a valuable property from a 103-year-old lady. It’s currently a privately owned parking lot.…
You’ve heard of Bridezilla. And the Wedding Guest from Hell. Now meet The Mad Bomber Groom. Guess you gotta give him points for creativity. Not brains. Definitely not brains. But creativity. Experian, the worst and most pervasive of the big three credit bureaus sold data to an identity-theft “service”. Nooooo, really? And you say both parties are doing it?? Impossible! Quite impossible! Well, that’s one way to ensure that politicians actually get your message. Good idea. But I’d trust it a lot more if it didn’t come from Google. Death panels. Not a good thing. But yes, they’re real (Hellllooo,…
The links in this first batch were meant to go in Friday’s “Waves of History” post, but I was running out of time. So here they are — perhaps for some inspiration? Kevin D. Williamson on citizens pushing back. There’s now an online whistleblower support system. Originally written by Aaron Swartz. Maybe in death he’ll be able to prevent someone else from being hounded into suicide by vicious prosecutors. Borepatch: “Obama Agonistes.” Justin Raimondo: “American Apocalypse.” “13 nutrition lies that made the world fat and sick.” It may not be instantly apparent what this one has to do with resistance…
When I heard that the NSA was not only gobbling up email, but also hacking address books by the millions, my first impulse … well, it wasn’t to laugh. But Carl-Bear, stepping into the breach, came up with a sweet little monkeywrench. This works because … wait for it … really … seriously the NSA can’t filter spam. You can filter spam. Your grandmother can filter spam. Thunderbird can filter spam. Everybody and his uncle’s ISP can filter spam. The NSA … not so much. So go. Monkeywrench away. Instead of abandoning Gmail and Hotmail and all those other snoop-ready…