Thomas Szasz has died. He was 92. He was a great intellectual freedom fighter who carved out a unique niche. (Thank you, Jim Bovard for the news, sad though it may be.)
Category: Privacy and self ownership
Owning our own information and telling Big Brother to get lost
Man steals rare antique gun. He’s so proud he goes on TV with it Speaking of guns, here’s more on 3-D printables. This is gonna change the world. A little drug-war surprise from Paul Ryan. Some dogs are better than their people (sad story). Cage ’em without charges until they die. It’s the new American Way. When he tweeted about the new Congressional Research Service report on the Posse Comitatus Act, Radley Balko noted that these reports are done only at the request of congressthings. So who suddenly needs an update on Posse Comitatus — and why? Ya gotta wonder.…
Finally got through my latest round of deadlines and returned to the snitch book this weekend. The first-round reality-checkers (lawyers, security people, ex-cops, people who’ve been hurt by snitches) gave valuable input. The second draft took less time than I thought once I got to it. So … you guys who volunteered to be second-round reality-checkers, get ready. I’m awaiting an answer on one biggish question. Then I’ll do one more quick run-through and the re-draft will be on its way to you. Around the end of this month or early October it’ll be time for the eagle-eyed proofreaders (of…
Reader just waiting put me on the Memory Lane Express. A link to Sean Gabb’s retrospective on the late, great Loompanics led him to take his copy of Loomps’ 2005 catalog off the shelf, where he discovered an old article of mine: “Dark Satanic Cubicles.” I didn’t remember it. Only vaguely recalled the title. But it sounded brilliant. 🙂 Took quite a bit of hunting to find. Had to go through some interesting byways. But here it is: imperfectly archived on the old Loompanics site. just waiting also sent me .jpg copies (thank you), from which come the stark Nick…
Apple has gotten a patent to remotely disable features on wireless devices based on their location. (This is from a not-always-reliable source, but is verified elsewhere.) I can’t think of a single legitimate reason to impose blanket blackouts like that based on location (language in the patent to the contrary). Lots of illegitimate ones, though. Halt recording at protests or public meetings. Or at cop checkpoints. Keep protestors from coordinating with each other on the spot. Not clear at the moment whether Apple plans to do this only on iPhones (one more reason not to have a smartphone). But no…
Technological crime-solving marvel! Police cameras save us from the dreaded threat of … erm … cannabis residue on some guy’s teeth. (H/T JG) Seven myths about the police. (Civil-liberties left perspective, some f-bomb, good article.) “Did the great financial crisis start with the end of the gold standard?” Uh, yeah. Maybe it’s not what some of us would call simplifying. But for those still in the little rat-wheel it’s a fine start. (Tip o’ hat to Jim Bovard) Ah, it was nice, being an official part of “the lunatic fringe of the libertarian movement.” (One correction, though. Loompanics didn’t go…
There are so many dogs being shot by cops that they now have a Facebook page. (H/T MLS) But this about takes the cake for puppycides. Gun-rights advocates outbid cops in a gun buyback. Joel already covered this better than I, but you’ll be glad shocked furious to know the ATF has been granted one more power to abuse. They can now steal your stuff in drug crimes. The ATF? Drug crimes? But you see, it’s okay, because as usual in these cases, there don’t actually have to be any drugs or any crimes. So it’s not like they’re exceeding…
Checking my Amazon vendor stats this morning, I discovered that somebody (I’ll never know who unless they choose to “uncloak”; thank you, Mysterious Stranger) just bought one of these: Wireless IP Pan/Tilt/ Night Vision Internet Surveillance Camera Built-in Microphone With Phone remote monitoring support. Yeah, that’s a mouthful. But that’s also a lot of camera for $50. Until recently, I’d never thought about getting home-security cameras because a) I have nothing worth stealing and b) not many bad guys are going to choose a house with three dogs. But just this week the thought crossed my mind that a camera…
Pregnant woman is glad to learn her rape was illegitimate. (Via The Onion, of course.) Bait and switch. And here I thought cats were sneaky! I still think those feddies are up to no good no matter how they dodge the issue. Obviously, I’m not the only one. Oliver Stone. Yay. Michael Moore. Boo. But together they make an excellent case for Julian Assange and free speech. Whatever Assange did or didn’t do in Sweden (and the whole case seems to be a preposterous he said/she said over actions that wouldn’t be considered a crime anywhere outside of Sweden), the…
The topic of recording police and other members of the Authoritah class has arisen hereabouts. Specifically the legality (or otherwise) of recording them. Sad fact is that, although it’s clear as shiny Windexed glass that any citizen ought to be able to record any activity performed in public by “their” government, state laws are often ambiguous at best, lunatic at worst. Most laws about recording were written before half the planet carried video equipment in its pockets and were written in a panic over the horrors of “illegal wiretapping,” to boot. Perfectly innocent people have been threatened with serious prison…