Boosters of the generative AI slop that’s taking over everywhere these days like to call everyone who objects “Luddites”. Which is actually true, but not how they think. The popular conception of the Luddites is they they simply objected to…
Consider The State: What Is It For? And Is It Worth It?
Historically, of course, the State arose as an expression of the personal power of the ruler to impose their will on a population. But that idea of the State was made obsolete thousands of years ago. Though it is still…
Identity Politics: They’re All Doing It
There’s been a lot of whinging about “identity politics” lately. From both major parties. The Democrats complain about how white, male, rural, evangelical christian the rhetoric of the Republicans is. Which is true, they do do that. And the Republicans…
You Should Read This: Building A Delusional Panopticon
Today’s links come via Schneier on Security. It’s time to look at what the coup has been doing with government data. TLDR: it’s not good. You should read these two articles: While both of them are absurdly uncritical about whether…
What It’s For: The State Exists To Enforce The Law
I realize that this is a bit of a minority view at the moment. But really, that’s what the State is for. It does not exist, as the current regime seems to believe, to pursue delusional fantasies cooked up by…
Honesty: The Best (Government) Policy
If lying to a cop is illegal, lying as a cop should be too. That seems only fair? But more importantly than fair, it’s rational. Because we should hold anyone who wields a State power to higher standards than we…
Ukraine & Friends: We Have Some Issues Of Our Own To Work Through Right Now
It must be really frustrating to see the U.S. switching sides in the middle of a war for your country’s survival. I realize this doesn’t help, but it’s frustrating for us too. The best y’all can do now is to…
High Crimes And Misdemeanors: Everything He Does Is Illegal, So Is He Really President?
At what point, as you shut down all the legally-mandated parts of a State and replace them with illegal actions, does that State cease to be and a new one has arisen? It’s a political science version of the Ship…
Free Your Mind: ICE Claims To Be The Brain Police
The State should be an expression of the will of the people, never a source of it. To put that in words that have caused a recent kerfuffle in Congress: The government should have no role at all in the…
Good Doggies, Bad Science: The Dire Wolf Is Still Extinct
To be very, very clear: it is theoretically possible to bring back some (recently) extinct animals. But only theoretically. And what Colossal Biosciences has done is certainly not that. They appear to have done some (legitimately impressive) gene editing work…