People should not fear their governments; governments should fear their people.
Going green: Morocco bans use of plastic bags [AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)]
I’ve written in the past about how absurd it is for Americans to worry about Muslims imposing Shariah law in the US. Now, it seems that it’s the Muslims who have to worry about American Shariah laws being imposed in their countries.
Virtual Nations. Good read of the day: “The Somali Potentates of Suburbia,” an Awl piece about the various secessionist paper states that supposedly exist in Somalia and are actually run from abroad. A quick excerpt:
Awdal State wasn’t declaring independence from Somalia. It was declaring independence from Somaliland, a secessionist movement that’d declared its independence from Somalia two decades prior. And the Awdalites didn’t want their own independence. They wanted autonomy (including their own president) within Somalia. And when I say “Awdalites,” I don’t actually mean people in Awdal. The hall with all those awkward dancers was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The government election later that year took place in London. And the president they wound up electing was a middle-aged dude living permanently in Ottawa, whose day job was stuffing flyers into a local paper.
Clearly the Somalis have the right idea. If only we could restrict the US President to a meaningless role filled by someone with a day job shuffling flyers.
Developer Of Anonymous Tor Software Dodges FBI, Leaves US. An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: FBI agents are currently trying to subpoena one of Tor’s core software developers to testify in a criminal hacking investigation, CNNMoney has learned. But the developer, who goes by the name Isis Agora Lovecruft, fears that federal agents will coerce her to undermine the Tor system — and expose Tor users around the world to potential spying. That’s why, when FBI agents approached her and her family over Thanksgiving break last year, she immediately packed her suitcase and left the United States for Germany. “I was worried they’d ask me to do something that hurts innocent people — and prevent me from telling people it’s happening,” she said in an exclusive interview with CNNMoney. Earlier in the month, Tech Dirt reported the Department of Homeland Security wants to subpoena the site over the identity of a hyperbolic commenter. [Slashdot]
It’s depressing that I can now say that I’m old enough to remember when people defected to the US.
Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year. Here’s an interesting factoid about contemporary policing: In 2014, for the first time ever, law enforcement officers took more property from American citizens than burglars did. Martin Armstrong pointed this out at his blog, Armstrong Economics, last week. [Washington Post]
I remember when bandits in uniforms were something you read about being a problem in particularly nasty third world hellholes. This also reminded me of the Utah study that found that you’re more likely to be murdered by the police than by (private sector) street criminals.
Gov’t accidentally publishes target of Lavabit probe: It’s Snowden. In the summer of 2013, secure e-mail service Lavabit was ordered by a federal judge to provide real-time e-mail monitoring of one of its users. Rather than comply with the order, Levison shut down his entire company. He said what the government was seeking would have endangered the privacy of all of his 410,000 users.
Later, he did provide the private key as a lengthy printout in tiny type.
In court papers related to the Lavabit controversy, the target of the investigation was redacted, but it was widely assumed to be Edward Snowden. He was known to have used the service, and the charges against the target were espionage and theft of government property, the same charges Snowden faced. [Ars Technica]
This is another illustration of what the Federal Baby Incinerators are talking about when they demand that encryption be rendered worthless in order to fight “terrorism.” What they really mean is to spy on political dissidents, along with other Gestapo-worthy goals such as imprisoning people who prevent puppycide.
Jury Acquits Woman Arrested for Protecting Her Dog From a Cop. [Hit & Run]
There are a few noteworthy things in this story. First, there’s this quote:
…[the cop] “testified that he was not afraid of the dog, but was following training that required him to kill all dogs that approach him, even if it was chained and wagging its tail as Buddy was doing in this case.”
It’s been obvious for years that this is the case, but I’ve never heard of a cop actually admitting it in public before. Then there’s this:
Hupp told PINAC her case hinged on her husband’s video, which they did not have for weeks after the incident because Cook confiscated the phone, which he was unable to access because it was protected by a password.
When the Evil Empire insists that it needs to be able to break into your phone at will in order to convict criminals, this is exactly what they mean.
Child Faces Criminal Charges After Using Weapon Emojis on Instagram. A Virginia 12-year-old faces criminal harassment charges after posting an Instagram message that said “meet me in the library Tuesday” followed by gun, knife, and bomb emojis. [Hit & Run]
The charges are a smokescreen. What this girl is really being persecuted for is thoughtcrime, for using an emoji of a gun. They don’t have to actually get a conviction, just send a message to show the other peasants what will happen to them. If they didn’t, people might escalate to more serious thoughctrimes like drawing pictures of guns with their crayons, or even something truly unforgivable like pointing their fingers and saying “bang.” By going after one girl, no matter the outcome, they’ve given the other inmates of their government school a powerful lesson on why they should “exercise [themselves] in crimestop.”
US condemns China lawyer ‘confession’. The US says a purported confession from a prominent Chinese lawyer on state television runs counter to the rule of law. [BBC News]
Since the Evil Empire coerces confessions from people hundreds if not thousands of times per day, perhaps they meant that doing it rarely enough that it’s a newsworthy event is counter to the rule of their law?
Radar blimp went rogue because auto-deflation system had no batteries.Last October, a Defense Department tethered radar blimp broke loose of its moorings near Baltimore and drifted across two states—taking out power lines as it dragged its tether cable behind it in a 13-hour, unguided flight.
[…]
The JLENS program, which uses two high-flying aerostats with radar domes (one a search radar system and the other a targeting radar to lock onto low-flying cruise missiles and other potential threats), has cost over $2.7 billion since the program began in 1998.
[…]
When it finally came down 160 miles north in Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, the Army had state police bring it down the rest of the way with approximately 100 shotgun blasts. [Ars Technica]
So, the cost of this foolishness is $2.7 billion dollars, plus the cost to repair various power lines and buy 100 shotgun shells. The number of cruise missiles that were fired at the US since 1998 (or, for that matter, that could have been fired) is zero. Still, this absurd boondoggle isn’t the worst use of stolen money. At least they didn’t use it to torture or murder anyone.
Somebody who actually reads the terms of use on websites spotted this one, from Amazon:
57.10 Acceptable Use; Safety-Critical Systems. Your use of the Lumberyard Materials must comply with the AWS Acceptable Use Policy. The Lumberyard Materials are not intended for use with life-critical or safety-critical systems, such as use in operation of medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, aircraft or air traffic control, nuclear facilities, manned spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat. However, this restriction will not apply in the event of the occurrence (certified by the United States Centers for Disease Control or successor body) of a widespread viral infection transmitted via bites or contact with bodily fluids that causes human corpses to reanimate and seek to consume living human flesh, blood, brain or nerve tissue and is likely to result in the fall of organized civilization.