… courtesy of the U.S. military and the war in Afghanistan. The stated goal of the Afghan effort is no less than the collection of biometric data for every living person in Afghanistan. At a conference with Afghan officials in 2010, the commander of the U.S. Army’s Task Force Biometrics Col. Craig Osborne told the attendees that the collection of biometric data is not simply about “identifying terrorists and criminals,” but that “it can be used to enable progress in society and has countless applications for the provision of services to the citizens of Afghanistan.” According to Osborne, biometrics provide…
Category: War
I don’t usually “do” holidays, except Thanksgiving. But here are a pair of truly touching stories, one for today, and one (though it was just published), for the Mothers Day just passed. War dog helps the family of the soldier he served with. An old man with Alzheimers, two caring cops, and a happy ending. (H/T ML for the smile.)
I try not to be paranoid. I really do. I laugh at Alex Jones-style alarms and snort haughtily when I see that a story originates with InfoWars. I believe myself to be above all that. I really do. I consider much alarmist “news” to be on par with reports that lizard-brained aliens are secretly running the country. (Human-brained aliens are quite sufficiently awful, thank you.) But then there are times …
Alas (but no surprise), the rumor that’s been buzzing around the ‘Net ever since Edward Snowden’s NSA documents began their slow leak has turned out to be true. The NSA has cracked the encryption on which the Internet thrives. All those assurances from our banks, insurance companies, doctors, credit card companies, etc. that our data is safe and secure? Blooey. Maybe “cracking” isn’t quite the right term. Apparently, they haven’t really gotten any great master key. Not even to one form of encryption (and there are many forms). This isn’t Bletchley Park and the Enigma machine. Nothing so grand. Simply…
The last few days I’ve been doing physical labor, spending time in the sunshine, painting rooms — and thinking about America’s UberGovernment. It’s dawning on a lot more people that a government run by secret spymasters is illigitmate even by the most conventional, mainstream standards. Among freedomistas, even those like the folks at DownsizeDC — who are usually pretty polite, mainstream, and hopeful of working within the system — are talking last straws. Edward Snowden’s revelations of the NSA were a shock, though not a surprise. Now this week they’re followed by news of DEA operations that are top secret…
Source. Via Wendy. Comments at the source are well worth reading. I usually don’t ask political questions. But signs are that this “interesting” week in Egypt will have repercussions that are long-term, widespread, and personal. So … Was it a coup, a revolution — or simply a restoration of the revolution that began in Tahrir Square in the Arab Spring? What will the repercussions be — for U.S. policy, for Obama, and for freedom anywhere? The U.S. government has a history of “backing the wrong horse.” Nothing new there. But the potential consequences seem unusually large this time.
* Obama wants to posthumously hang Paul Revere for spying. 🙂 (H/T Chris from comments) ** Looks as if these hopeful Canadian filmmakers aren’t going to make their modest goal. Only 15 hours left as I write this. Too bad. A mention over at LRC could probably have put them over the top in an hour. (H/T Wendy) *** 15 photos from the Egyptian protests that you’ll never see in “vintage media.” Wow. These people get it! **** Best comment yet on Big O’s embarrassing and probably illegal delay of the employer mandate for Obamacare. ***** ADDED courtesy of Beth…
You know how I usually view petitioning Our Glorious Leaders. It’s right up there with v*ting for usefulness. However, here’s a petition that deserves some attention: we petition the obama administration to: require that Syrian rebels receiving firearms and other munitions from the US Government receive only firearms legal for US Civilian ownership, and undergo the same background and security checks a US Civilian would, including appropriate NFA tax stamps, and waiting periods. I don’t know why anyone would want to arm those barbarians (and they’re barbarians on both sides of that conflict). I really don’t know why anyone who…
Anybody who grew up in a dysfunctional family knows one of the cardinal rules: The person who mentions a problem is the person who caused the problem. Let some low-on-the-family-totem-pole person raise a destructive issue that’s hidden in plain sight and all hell breaks loose. No, the family doesn’t suddenly wake up and say, “OMG, you’re right. We have to do something about that!” Instead, everyone within earshot rounds on the poor sap who dared mention the family secret and the bullying begins: “Why are you always such a troublemaker?” “If you’d just learn to keep your mouth shut, everything…
It was sunny yesterday, O wonder of wonders. I spent the day painting the back porch. It’s a tiny porch, but has four different colors and a couple different wall textures and it kept my body occupied for hours. But my mind had better other things it wanted to do. —– I found myself thinking about Amy Fischer, the “Long Island Lolita” and her main squeeze with the perfect tabloid name, Joey Buttafuoco. Why the heck would I be there in the sunshine thinking about some long-eclipsed “crime of the century”? I have no idea. That’s so 1992. —– I…