This story is about the best and brightest leaving Russia. It has nothing to do with the U.S. — except that my email brings me daily reports about American ex-pats that sound just like this.
Not long ago, this sort of privilege, with its cruel disregard for the “little people,” was granted only to puffed-up Oriental potentates and pashas in lands of the notably unfree.
You already knew you were a terrorist in the eyes of “your” democratic, representative, passionately liberty-loving, and devoutly transparent government. Now read the criteria, such as they are, secretly used to terror-list you. Good work from the new Omidyar/Greenwald team and their contacts at The Intercept. (H/T jed)
But worry not! Your safety is in expert hands! (Seriously, it would be hard to imagine how a public shooting could be handled worse than the one at the Navy Yard.)
On the lighter side: Darth Vader is more highly regarded than all potential 2016 presidential candidates.
Is anybody surprised by the latest creepiness from F*c*b**k? And why do so many people not get that when the service is free, you’re not the customer; you’re the product?
The middle class is even more screwed than the numbers show.
Could the mythical cancer wonder drug be on the horizon, or is this just another typical bit of overhype? Concept seems good: turn your own immune system against the cancerous invader.
Pop quiz! Don’t worry, only one question: What role do submachine guns play in the inspection of meat, the granting of farm subsidies, or the administration of food stamps? (The link is to PawPaw’s House. PawPaw is a cop and even he doesn’t like this one bit.)
Bovard on Obama and cynicism. This reminds me once again how glad I am that Obama is so inept. Politicians who talk like he does are dangerous when they’re actually competent.
There’s been so much terrible news out of that monster mudslide in Washington. And the last few days, so little news because they’re not saying much until the medical examiner identifies the latest bodies. Some bodies will just be under that mud forever. And nobody will ever know exactly how many.
All week I’ve bookmarked article after article, hoping to find something meaningful to say. But there’s nothing. Except for the few people rescued immediately after the slide there’s been nothing good. Except this one small thing.
Thanks, naturegirl for the one bit of cheer. I’m going to erase all those bookmarks now.
… does the media get so excited about the idiot state-of-the-union speech?
It’s all SOTU all the time for days before and for days afterward. When there’s never a damn thing of importance — or even of vague interest — said in the thing.
I’ve never agreed with Harry Reid on anything else before. Not that I know of, anyhow. But on this one thing I’m totally in his camp: he usually sleeps through the wretched speeches.
I think I’ll be doing sudoku by the fire tonight. How about you? Clean your guns? Reload ammo? Check your prep pantry? Watch paint dry?
Boy, this working for a living stuff is hard. Stimulating, challenging, often fun, and a great way to break a long financial drought. But hard.
This afternoon for the first time in quite a while, I was able to wrap up work before meandering in the woods with the dogs. Brilliantly sunny day — and we’ve had more of those than any winter I can ever remember here. I’m sorry for you in the east suffering all those Bad Boy winter storms (Zeus or Giorgio or Henri-Claude or whatever they’re calling them, these days). I’m sorry for you Californians facing a dangerously dry summer. But here? Glorious!
Anyhow, so instead of charging out and back for the sake of doggie exercise and canine elimination needs, I actually rambled. Meandered. I might have even managed a few minutes of strolling. It was amazing. Really.
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And now I’m just rambling here. Just writing down whatever comes to mind. These little verbal expeditions tend to embarrass me, but they also draw a lot of thoughtful, touching comment. Which is I guess at least part of what this blog ought to be about. It’s one of the best feature’s of Joel’s blog, that he just exposes all those warts and lets you visit him inside the Secret Lair on good days and bad.
You already know this, don’t you? Nevertheless, it never hurts to be reminded of the four magic statements to make to the police when you’re stopped and they want to poke around and see what they might be able to pin on you.
Mostly for the nerds hereabouts: Rethinking cloud storage (and in particular, rethinking SpiderOak).
Solid scientific evidence for intelligent design! Erm, that is design by fish.
Finally, Chaser — the famous border collie who can identify more than 1,000 objects by name and understands simple sentences is now the subject of her very own book. (Link is to an interview with Chaser’s owner/trainer, who’s pretty exceptional himself. Windsurfing and biking at 85!) You can of course get the book here. Video below and at the interview link.
