One might ask why the FBI had these training materials in the first place, and whether they plan to throw out the attitudes (yeah, riiiiiight) or just the paperwork. You probably already know Tess Pennington’s online series 52 Weeks to Preparedenss. But it’s always worth a link. And soon? A book! Bovard: “First wheat, now health care.” Drone Studies. A new college major. That is &^%$# repulsive. Security: a crypto-nerd’s imagination vs what would actually happen. S, who sent this, noted that these days they’d probably dispense with the drugs. RelaxShacks.com. Extremely cool tips for getting the most out of…
Category: Official thuggery, bad prosecutions, and bad law
Sometimes you run across a piece of opinionizing so cluelessly arrogant it takes your breath away. Here’s one sent to me by Jim Bovard: Michael Tomasky challenges us to name a single freedom we’ve lost to the Obama administration. Oh, except any freedoms that mostly only affect people of Arab descent. Because you see, Tomasky is snootily certain none of us actually care about them. (And he’s blissfully unaware that what can be done to the least popular today can be done to others tomorrow. As in “When they came for the [fill in the blank] …”) So before issuing…
Friday brought two horrible-looking pieces of news that have made their way around the ‘Net fast and fearfully: The NSA is building a super data center in Utah. One that can — and will — scoop up the complete text of all our emails, break our encryption, and even report on where we parked last time we went to lunch. And a new executive order is a setup for “peacetime martial law” in America. By now, even Walmartian grannies have probably heard all this, and true paranoids have retreated to underground bunkers with their Super-Whiz-Whacker 3000 assault rifles and colossal…
Here’s an aspect of the dreadful FATCA that hasn’t gotten much coverage. From jed in comments: homeless by choice (and on principle). “How to Be Creative.” I don’t buy the claim that there’s no such thing as “creative types” (OMG, there are indeed creative types). But the rest is surely true. Creativity isn’t just for artists, writers, and inventors. Neat idea: an urban food forest. Not quite sure, though, how “free” it can be. A U.S. government soldier decides to freelance. (ADDED: The story that it was one “lone nut” “going rogue” probably isn’t going to hold up.) “Gaining Respect…
Average cost of living $150,000/year? I freaking don’t believe it. Not sure I believe this, either. But it makes me all the more grateful for that freezer full of grass-fed beef. (H/T PT.) Now, this I definitely believe: Having power makes you stupid. Something actually good about Rick Santorum. I try not to lift too much from Radley Balko, since I figure a lot of the same people read his blog and mine, but this was too good: Why you can’t smoke pot. (Because there’s sooooooo much money and lobbying for the drug warriors.) “10 Rules for a Literary Feud.”…
But if I posted it, poor old Dave would be compelled to fire my sorry self from the blogging crew. Reader JP sent it to me this afternoon. It shows an airport “security” checkpoint. Picture a conveyor belt. Picture a male TSA agent in blue uniform. Well, partially in blue uniform. Partially … not. Picture a blonde woman passenger with, shall we say, unusually developed glands. She is emphatically not wearing any uniform of any sort. Said TSA agent has said passenger bent over conveyor belt and is … um … subjecting her to an unusually thorough probe. Without using…
Attorney General Eric Holder tells Northwestern law students that assassinating U.S. citizens is constitutional. The ACLU responds. My mind recoils from grasping that we now live in a country that not only does such things, but then drags poor Orwell out of his grave to justify them.
Deadlining, so nothing Deep and Profound at the moment (not even anything deep and profound without the capital letters). But lotsa, lotsa links …. Here’s some insider dope on the weird stuff you may have heard is going on at Cato. Mobile phone privacy tips. And when it comes to privacy, you just gotta love Mozilla. You know that stupid TSA rule against more than three ounces of liquid? Well see if you can figure this one. And speaking of milk, turns out you can get a bigger “price on your head” for selling the raw stuff than for oh…
Seventy years ago today, March 2, 1942, a guy you’ve probably never heard of, Gen. John L. DeWitt, issued a proclamation that would steal the rights of more than 100,000 people, most of them American citizens. Two weeks earlier, President Franklin Roosevelt, had signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing military commanders, at their will, to designate zones “from which any or all persons may be excluded.” Roosevelt never mentioned the Japanese, or Americans of Japanese ancestry. No, he kept his hands and his reputation clean. It was DeWitt who issued Public Proclamation No. 1, creating Military Area No. 1. It covered…
Always true, but especially relevant right now. The NDAA with its “lock ’em up and throw away the key” atrocities became effective as of last night. And now we get to “look forward” to HR 347 unless Obama suddenly grows a conscience and a respect for the Bill of Rights. (H/T JS)