Sometimes if you don’t laugh, you’d just have to sit down and have a good cry.
Category: Official thuggery, bad prosecutions, and bad law
Eighteen years after Waco, some Branch Davidians reminisce. (Mainstream but interesting.) Sixteen years after Oklahoma City a fireman explains why he no longer trusts government. (Revisionist and eyewitness.) And in other news … Go ahead. Cuss. It’s good for you. Sitting, OTOH, isn’t. Next time somebody asks for your business card, Officer … (Side note: Do police ever tell the truth about their encounters with wronged “civilians”? Or is it possible that they really believe that any forceful comment or request from one of us is an offense, an affront, and an interference?) That poker bust. A sad waste of…
You’d think, you’d really think, they’d learn to use PGP. Police pepper spray a second grader. “I think there is a problem, but it’s with school and Aidan,” Mandy Elliot [his mother] said. “It only happens at school. It doesn’t happen at soccer. It doesn’t happen at swimming. It doesn’t happen with babysitters, with family members.” “How slavery really ended in America.” (NY Times link) Deathbed confessions work better if you confess to somebody honest, rather than a fellow member of your gang of crooks. And if your country has an actual, you know, justice system. (Odd timing. I was…
Stuff I’ve been saving up … Thomas Jefferson’s bible. I used to have a copy of that. Might still be in the bookcase of my ex-Significant Sweetie. Mmmmm. Pickled carrots. Another of my favorite things, but usually too expensive to buy at a store. Must try that recipe. A so-far neglected discussion thread started by Rarick over at The Mental Militia forums has some definitely odd links “for the bored prepper.” Or non prepper. Definitely for gearheads. This one is supposed to repel dogs. But I think at least one of mine would think it was a dandy playtoy. And…
The ‘Net’s been abuzz the last few days over a new iPhone and Android app named Color. Mostly, people have been asking why some of the nation’s hottest venture capitalists would already have dropped $41 million into an app whose only purpose is the random sharing of photos with people who also have the app and happen to be taking pictures nearby. (This article says within 100 feet; I think it’s actually 150.) The thing is reportedly a bit clunky to use, too. It works like this (from what I’ve read and seen so far; correct me if I’m wrong).…
Wow. Have you seen that video of the kid finally striking back against a tormentor? here and here are a couple of follow-ups. Apparently there was no injury, though you’d swear the little bully would have gotten a broken leg out of it. Sucks that the victim got the same punishment as his tormentor. Washington wrecks your washing machine. SecurID. You may have one. Careful. Turns out not to be so secure. Via The Agitator: Resilent Japan. But as the author, Jesse Walker, is quick to say, it’s not just the Japanese who respond well in the midst of catastrophe.…
Angry man pours gasoline on himself. Police arrive. One guess: What does a genius cop do? (Tip o’ hat to P.T.) Intelligent, up-to-date discussion of the Japanese nuclear plant at The Mental Militia Forums. (Tip o’ hat to S.) An era has truly ended. Augustus Owsley Stanley, III is dead. For a brief, shining time, Purple Owsley was the holy grail of psychedelics. Oh yeah, and there was that band he was involved with, too. Oh lord. You know I’m for creators’ rights. But the government version is getting crazier and more Draconian by the day. Absurd. Government by and…
One of the things I hate, hate, hate about being aware is that every time you think you’ve heard it all, that you’re as cynical as you can get, that no level of governmental depravity could possibly surprise you … you learn something new. Something worse. Sometimes it’s just a little thing you can laugh off. Like Newt Gingrich expecting Christian broadcasters to believe that he cheated on his wives out of patriotism. Or, for that matter hearing commentators claim with straight face that Newt Gingrich is the R-party’s great intellectual light. I mean, you hear these things and it…
Good news (thanks to P.T.): the first 11 markets where Atlas Shrugged will be released. And a tiny hint of hopeful news (courtesy of Jim. B). Remember Nathan Fillion’s recent comment about wanting to revive Firefly? Well … The secret of long life isn’t what we’ve been told. But it may — no surprise — involve a depressing amount of exercise (NYTimes free subscription link). Whatever it involves, it doesn’t hinge on any “medical establishment” — as this depressing graph makes clear. For more impressive charts, check out Dave’s Friday blog. Silver. Shazam. The FDA pulls 500 prescription cold and…
This is great and gutsy. YOU GO, boss! And hats off to a few cops, too. (Tip o’ hat to S.) —– UPDATE 2/24: Some blogs are calling this story a hoax. The OP has followed up and finds at least circumstantial evidence that the cafe refusing service to TSA agents exists. No solid proof, though. One good thing, though. As Joel points out, the story has spawned one of the best comment threads ever. And yeah, Joel. I’ll bet that first commenter wishes he’d never opened his mouth.