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…
You Should Read This: Ed Zitron Gets A Little Rude About The Generative AI Bubble
And “a little” is far less than the topic deserves. We should be getting a lot more rude about this nonsense. He opens his latest epic post on the topic with: I’m sick and god-damn tired of this! I have…
Getting REAL: I Don’t Care About Showing ID To Vote
Honestly, I’m kinda in favor of the U.S. having a national ID card and of requiring it to vote and whatever else. Heck, even Costco has a membership card. There’s a better argument for requiring an ID to vote than…
Dueling Sovereigns: The Feds Are Arresting State Judges
Well, this wasn’t what I’d intended to write about today. Oh, well. You go to blog with the jackbooted fascist thuggery you have, not the reasoned discussion of political philosophy you want to have. You should read that linked article,…
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…
Framing Religion: Freedom vs. Exemptions
I said yesterday that Jonathan Larsen, of “The Fucking News”, is a better writer than I am. And this is true. He can usually get at the core of an issue more elegantly than I ever could, and structure his…
You Should Read This: The Fucking News
You really should read “The Fucking News“. For one thing, he’s a better writer than I am. I know I’m not a particularly awesome writer. I don’t do it to be awesome; I do this because the alternative is climbing…
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…
The Partial Veto: Wisconsin Hits The Bottom Of A Slippery Slope
The partial, or line-item, veto idea was one of those inexplicably popular fads that you see everywhere for a while then never hear about again till the nostalgia sets in and it gets another day in the sun. It’s come…