Thursday links
Thursday, May 15th, 2014- Aw, da poo widdle coppie. Him aw hurt because him being shunned after him was a bad coppie and … somebody decided to howl loud, long, and amazingly effectively for justice.
- Um, yeah. I don’t think I’ll be buying any new cars, thank you. (H/T J)
- Harry Reid’s Rule #1: Billionaires buying government are only bad when you disagree with them. (Jon Stewart whacks Reid with a cluebat.)
- With Google, I often think lately that its high-minded motto, “Don’t be evil,” was never anything but a cover for the slimy things it intended to get away with
- Apple, too. I suspect this question goes deep, deep down a rabbit hole: Why would any tech company help cover up police thuggery? (Via Wendy — authentic Canadian intellectual. :-) )
- Woman’s cancer apparently cured by one mega-strong dose of engineered measles virus.
- “The Bonfire of the Humanities.” Bigotry and censorship in the name of “tolerance.”
- I know how you feel, Kevin. Go for a peaceful future.
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May 15th, 2014
I’m lovin’ our ’49 Suburban more and more.
May 15th, 2014
Re Candy;
I have seen it time and time again. Some damm cop goes overboard and all they get is a slap on the wrist. Now, why is it they can keep on getting away with it? For one thing I would like to see is an immediate suspension without pay. Then, an unbiased investigation by people outside of law enforcement. If guilty the cop would not only get canned but be blackballed from ever serving as a cop again. That, along with sentencing in a prison. It is sad and a damm shame that at one time we were taught that cops are our friend. Yeah, right. Fact is, never again will I trust ANY cop. That includes my nephew who is a detective in a city in Wisconsin. No, I don’t believe he did anything wrong but well…today….who knows?
May 15th, 2014
A couple of those “banner ads” for Google were on Firefox a few days ago – at the same time Firefox was asking to update on my computer.
(I haven’t updated yet, and am seriously thinking of dropping Firefox. It has been changing some of my parameters whenever it updates and I’m beginning to distrust it as well.)
May 15th, 2014
Re: I don’t think I’ll be buying any new cars
This is a discussion I have had on many an occasion. First let me state one thing, the notion that speed kills is nothing but pure BS. I have driven vehicles in Germany at 200 plus KPS (125 MPH+) with no problem at all. The problem is not with a vehicles speed, the problem is people driving vehicles beyond their driving ability.
It is sad that technology is being developed more and more to fleece the public for their own good. If the grand viziers who run things were serious about reducing speeding and making the streets safer there is a simple way. The technology exists today to equip all vehicles with on board computer controlled governors that receive wi-fi signals. Each speed limit road sign could be equipped with a short range wi-fi transponder to tell passing vehicle computers what the speed limit is and presto no more speeding.
On the downside no more street racing or other fun times.
On the upside the reason to have as many traffic cops would be gone since there would be very little to enforce. Just think of it, the day of the traffic cop behind the billboard would come to an end.
Not to worry this will never happen. The reduction in revenue for governments would result in downsizing not only police but all the other programs that your speeding ticket pays for.
May 15th, 2014
Well, if I have the chance and the money, I’d prefer to buy an older Porsche anyway. I’d actually prefer the looks of the older Porsche and they’d kick your ass if you drive them wrong.
On another note, here’s a link about why you shouldn’t make the argument of “If you’re doing nothing wrong…”
http://foodforthethinkers.com/2014/04/25/if-you-are-doing-nothing-wrong-you-have-plenty-to-fear-30-examples/
May 15th, 2014
OT: A Bundy Ranch followup. Very chilling but not totally unexpected. http://www.blacklistednews.com/VIDEO%3A_FBI_Launches_Full_Investigation_Into_Bundy_Ranch_Supporters/35219/0/38/38/Y/M.html
May 15th, 2014
Isnt there some way to disable that? Or rip right out with a bolt cutter and some pliers? I quit Progressive because they wanted me to plug a dsta gathering device into my power point. (Sorry Flo.)
May 15th, 2014
Tech companies would help cover up police thuggery for the same reason any large company will always do what the government wants: it’s made up of ordinary people, many of whom have families. I won’t help the government (I work for a different tech company), but I’m not going to blame someone for giving in because they don’t want to see their kids tortured in front of them.
May 16th, 2014
Let the bonfires roar! I mean, like rly, why should universities put up with people who still have stuff to learn?
May 16th, 2014
And, the followup to the future of cars, as in, why you might not be able to to avoid it by keeping the old beast running. This hits pretty close to home for me. Irrespective of the surveillance and other problems with new vehicles, I also hate the new digital mode of driving. I don’t want a digital dashboard. I don’t want to push buttons to select the transmission function. And I definitely don’t want a big touchscreen menu sytem for controlling all the infotainment / climate functions. Matthew Inman surely loves his Tesla, but I would never want to operate something like that.
No auto company will ever build a car exactly as I would like it to be, but with all the regulations, I doubt I’d be able to get a home-brew vehicle licensed for the street. Maybe there’s an “experimental” loophole? If there is, I bet it’s tedious at best to get through it.
May 17th, 2014
All the computer stuff running cars gives a whole new meaning to “blue screen of death.”
May 18th, 2014
@Jed: I think homebuilt motorcycles are easier to get licensed than cars are. I have an uncle who builds and/or repairs motorcycles for a living.
And, there is no rule against a motorcycle being enclosed.
May 18th, 2014
It’s always struck me how cops get more adverse attention over the shooting of a dog than the shooting of a person; at least, from people unconnected to the case. I suppose dogs are naturally thought to be innocent, while people shot by cops must have been up to no good (thanks to the Ministry of Propaganda for all those cop shows…)
But hey, I’m all for shunning these creeps. One reason small towns are better places to live, is that evil doing is not as anonymous as in big cities. Word gets around, and the social pressure starts up.
I do enjoy Jon Stewart now and then. At least he’s not a total hack and can make fun of both sides of the aisle (although I wouldn’t say he’s unbiased, not by a long shot).
Talk about creepy shit, I can’t believe that Google policy on ads. I suppose we shouldn’t expect a free market to necessarily be a decent and thoughtful market. This policy of Google’s reminds me of Heinlein’s book “Podkayne of Mars” where the heroine ends up on Venus, where capitalism has been given very free rein.
[Why would any tech company help cover up police thuggery?]
Probably that was incidental to the aims of the technology. I can just envision the corporate fat cats sitting around in a meeting, notified their new thing has some possibly adverse uses, or uses some people would object to. I just can’t see such people saying, “Well, this might be misused, so we’d better be good corporate citizens and ditch it.” Ain’t gonna happen! No, the only pressure they understand is the market. So get rid of your iphones, and send them an email telling them why.
Thanks for that “Bonfire of the Humanities” link. An excellent article. But college campuses have been absurd for ages. Back in the 70′s the U of Oregon campus feminists attacked the Physics Dept because they did not produce enough female graduates. It was particularly amusing since both Physics professors and their students would have given their left nuts to get more women into their classes. It turned out that most women were not interested in Physics.
May 18th, 2014
Back in 1993 I bought my first brand new car. It was a 4 dr Saturn. Great little car. It was about 6 months old and went in for some regular maintenance. The tech came out with a 2 foot wide spreadsheet and proceeded to lecture me on how they don’t recommend going over 60 mph until a certain mileage has been reached. I stared back at him blankly while I tried to figure out his point. Then he pointed to the spot on the spreadsheet that recorded a speed of 85 at 104 odometer miles. Even correctly listed the date and time, right there on paper.
Creeped me right out. And promptly named that car the “See-er”. Also took all the joy out of having my first new car, too.
So the misleading “last few years” this has been added to cars isn’t quite right. It goes back farther than that.
I sold that car in 2006, me selling to a private buyer. Not long after that a letter came in the mail from Saturn saying they were sorry to see me go as a customer! Apparently the DMV let em know, or else the car really told them itself.