DISPATCHES FROM THE K-12 IMPLOSION. Watch: Pissed Off Dad GOES OFF on Principal for Allowing 12-Year-Olds to Hold Gun Control Walkout.
Archive for 2018
March 21, 2018
JUST THINK OF THE MEDIA AS DEMOCRATIC ACTIVISTS WITH BYLINES, AND IT ALL MAKES SENSE: Anybody recall the media looking at Gina McCarthy’s travel expenses?
FASTER? PLEASE! Cadillac debuts CT6 V-Sport with new twin-turbo V8.
The CT6 is a good-looking sedan and has been earning some solid reviews since it debuted two years ago, even with the smaller V6 engines.
I just wish they’d give it a proper Cadillac name.
PRIVACY: How I went dark in Australia’s surveillance state for 2 years.
In 2015, during the transition from paper to Opal [contactless public transit cards], Australia passed sweeping new data retention laws. These laws required all Australian internet service providers and telecommunications carriers to retain customers’ phone and internet metadata for two years — details like the phone number a person calls, the timestamps on text messages or the cell tower a phone pings when it makes a call.
Suddenly, Australians were fighting for the right to stay anonymous in a digital world.
On one side of the fence: safety-conscious civilians. They argued that this metadata was a powerful tool and that the ability to track a person’s movements through phone pings or call times was vital for law enforcement.
On the other side of the fence: digital civil libertarians. They argued that the data retention scheme was invasive and that this metadata could be used to build up an incredibly detailed picture of someone’s life.
And sitting in a barn two paddocks away from that fence: me, switching out burner phones and researching VPNs.
When it emerged that police had the power to search Opal card data, track people’s movements and match this to individual users, it was the last straw. August 2016 rolled around, paperless tickets were phased out and I hatched my plan.
It’s a fascinating story.
INSIDE EVERY LIBERAL IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT: Prominent Science Fiction Author Calls for Depopulating Rural Areas.
(Classical reference in headline.)
I’LL BE ON THE DREW MARIANI SHOW (GUEST HOSTED BY ED MORRISSEY) in a few minutes, talking about my state secession paper.
IF IT MOVES, TAX IT: EU proposes online turnover tax for big tech firms.
Under the Commission’s plan, companies with significant digital revenues in Europe will pay a 3 percent tax on their turnover on various online services in the European Union, bringing in an estimated 5 billion euros ($6.1 billion).
EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici brushed off accusations that he was going after rich American tech companies to enrich EU coffers at a time when the bloc is at odds with the Trump administration over trade and taxation issues.
“This is neither a GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) attack nor an anti-U.S. attack proposal that will target any company or any country,” he told a news conference.
The tax would apply to large firms with annual worldwide revenue above 750 million euros ($920 million) and annual “taxable” EU revenues above 50 million euros.
I was frankly surprised to read that there are enough EU leaders opposed to make approval uncertain.
REVIEW: 2018 Audi Q7.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: Arnold Schwarzenegger Promotes Gas Guzzling Helicopter Ride over L.A. While Suing Oil Companies for ‘Murder.’
MISS LIBERTY: Social Justice Mocked: Eight Short Films.
Seven more at the link.
GUESS WHAT’S MISSING FROM THIS STORY: Federal Agency Courted Alcohol Industry to Fund Study on Benefits of Moderate Drinking.
If it had happened in 2017 instead of 2014, it would be “Trump Administration” not “Federal Agency.” You know I’m right.
ANTI-ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA: WhatsApp Co-Founder Joins #DeleteFacebook Movement.
The #DeleteFacebook movement just gained a notable supporter: Brian Acton, co-founder of Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
Acton and fellow WhatsApp Co-Founder Jan Koum sold their messaging app to Facebook in 2014 for $16 billion, becoming very rich in the process. After leaving Facebook last year to start his own nonprofit, Acton is now speaking out against the social media behemoth in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
“It is time. #deletefacebook,” Acton wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “Delete and forget. It’s time to care about privacy.”
Leaving Facebook — it’s gone viral!
GOOD NEWS FOR MICE: Newly discovered human antibody protects mice from malaria.
BRIDGET JOHNSON: Bipartisan Effort Fails to Rein in U.S. Military Involvement in Yemen. “Senate tables War Powers Resolution as Trump meets with Saudi crown prince and touts sales of ‘the missiles and the planes and all of the military equipment’.”
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE SHOW, MR. TOTO? Michael Caine’s ‘Dear Dictator’ isn’t just morally repugnant. It’s slow, painfully unfunny, and a stain on the legendary actor’s resume.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How To Delete Your Facebook Account.
DEPLATFORMED: YouTube Suspends Major Gun Manufacturer, Bans Instructional Gun Videos.
“While we’ve long prohibited the sale of firearms, we recently notified creators of updates we will be making around content promoting the sale or manufacture of firearms and their accessories, specifically, items like ammunition, gatling triggers, and drop-in auto sears,” reads a statement from a YouTube spokesperson.
The list of prohibited content now includes links to sites that sell firearms, videos that teach installation of certain accessories, and videos that teach the entirely legal acts of manufacturing guns and reloading ammunition.
It’s time to regulate YouTube, Google, Facebook, and Twitter as common carriers.
I’VE THOUGHT OF DOING THIS, BUT I’VE NEVER GOTTEN AROUND TO IT: Free Divers Defy The Limits of Science, And We’re Beginning to Understand How. I wouldn’t try the absurd 700 foot stuff, but I was talking to a free diver on Cayman when they had a competition going, and he told me he could train me to do 150 feet in a day. But I’ve never gotten around to it.
I’m probably better off with a tank of Nitrox on my back anyway.