The fundamental lie at the heart of modern political philosophy is the claim that the legitimacy of the State derives from the consent of the populace. No State actually has the consent of its people. And, in that sense, there…
Archive: Esther Dyson: The Continuing Saga
Who owns and controls the fundamental resources of the Internet is still important, but at the time it seemed like there was an opportunity for it to turn out better than it has. An old post of mine from Kuro5hin.Org,…
Hey, You Guys: When Will The Democrats Do Something? Anything?
Yeah, we know. The modern Republican party is full of Nazis and various Nazi-adjacent folks. But it’s got even more Confederates. So today’s sick historical burn for the Democrats should really be comparing them to General George McClellan. You may…
Archive: South Africa can Teach the U.S about Cops
It’s always bothered me when countries known for their history of being terrible manage to do something better than the United States does. An old post of mine from Kuro5hin.Org, dated “Thu Nov 9th, 2000 at 05:00:20 AM EST”. It…
Non Posse Commitatus: Playing Soldiers With The National Guard Again
Trump has announced that he’ll be violating the Posse Commitatus Act again; this time by sending national Guard troops to patrol Washington, D.C.. Because he got away with it in Los Angeles. And when there are no consequences for breaking…
Higher Standards: With Great Power Should Come Great Expectations
The more power the State gives you to, the higher its expectations for your behavior should be. As both Spider-Man and the Bible agree. (And so does the U.S. constitution.) And, in the abstract at least, I think it’s likely…
Archive: /dev/null/nethack 2000 Starting
For the first three tournaments, I made physical trophies for all the winners. There’s a box in my workshop containing the ones that never got sent out; some were because I never had shipping addresses for folks, but many were…
Gerrymandering: Will Making It Worse Actually Make Anything Better?
Gerrymandering is continuing to have it’s day in the national press. Which is kinda good? I mean, Texas’ latest venture into gerrymandering is bad, but the fact that the press is actually paying attention is good. Though the fact that…
Archive: ICANN Election Begins. Issues?
I ran in the first ICANN board of directors election on a platform that ICANN should immediately dissolve itself. If I remember correctly, I came third. An old post of mine from Kuro5hin.Org, dated “Sun Oct 1st, 2000 at 11:05:43…
Presidential Fitness: I Will If You Will
So, Trump wants to bring back the Presidential Physical Fitness Test. Fine, fine. That’s fine. Leaving aside the general inadequacy of one-size-fits-all standards and of how such fitness standards are constructed, physical fitness in general is a laudable goal for…