Orwellian

Jeffrey Tucker: 3 Important Lessons from a Canadian Border Crossing

"I was at the Canadian border, headed toward the freedom that exists a few feet beyond the last security check. I was gently waved down a side corridor. Ninety minutes later, I was let go, but not before something truly alarming happened. I’m pretty sure that the Canadian government captured a mirrored version of my smartphone — which pretty much holds the whole of my life. I’ll explain precisely how this happened in just a bit — in the hopes that perhaps you can take precautions that I did not. But let’s first establish that this practice is not unusual. According to documents obtained by the ACLU, this has become the standard backdoor method of search used today by governments around the world." Continue reading →

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“We’re Really Not Apologetic” for two killings, say Texas’ Airborne Snipers

"On Tuesday, a grand jury decided not to indict a Texas trooper who had killed two unarmed Guatemalan immigrants after shooting them from a helicopter last year. A police officer in a helicopter shot at a nonviolent suspect and killed two innocent men, and his actions were deemed defensible because the DPS gave him authority to do so. Before he fell under intense scrutiny, McCraw had expressed no remorse for putting people on the ground in danger while using lethal force against a nonviolent suspect. A few months before the incident, he had told interviewers, 'We're really not apologetic about it. We've got an obligation to protect our men and women when we're trying to protect Texas.'" Continue reading →

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Insane 9/11 Homework Assignment Highlights Trauma-based Education

"A homework assignment on the anniversary of 9/11 is the source of controversy in Texas after the instructions asked 7th grade students to write a farewell letter as if they were about to die in the attack. A language arts teacher at Fairview Junior High in Alvin, Texas asked students to pretend they were trapped in one of the towers or planes, then asking who they would write a letter to if they knew they were going to die. Parents of the students were outraged when they found out about the assignment. The school district released an apology to the families." Continue reading →

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High School AP History Book Rewrites 2nd Amendment

"Guyer High School (and obviously several others) are complicit in attempting to condition students to interpret the 2nd Amendment in a clearly opposite manner in which it was intended. This textbook, currently being used by Guyer High School, is attempting to redefine the Second Amendment to impressionable young minds. Parents, you must speak up and demand action. Investigate your child’s history book ASAP, and post more pictures in the comments below. Call your school and demand that revisionist history books like this are removed from the school district." Continue reading →

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Obamacare will question your sex life

"'Are you sexually active? If so, with one partner, multiple partners or same-sex partners?' Be ready to answer those questions and more the next time you go to the doctor, whether it’s the dermatologist or the cardiologist and no matter if the questions are unrelated to why you’re seeking medical help. And you can thank the Obama health law. Doctors and hospitals who don’t comply with the federal government’s electronic-health-records requirements forgo incentive payments now; starting in 2015, they’ll face financial penalties from Medicare and Medicaid. The Department of Health and Human Services has already paid out over $12.7 billion for these incentives." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamacare will question your sex life

Obamacare will question your sex life

"'Are you sexually active? If so, with one partner, multiple partners or same-sex partners?' Be ready to answer those questions and more the next time you go to the doctor, whether it’s the dermatologist or the cardiologist and no matter if the questions are unrelated to why you’re seeking medical help. And you can thank the Obama health law. Doctors and hospitals who don’t comply with the federal government’s electronic-health-records requirements forgo incentive payments now; starting in 2015, they’ll face financial penalties from Medicare and Medicaid. The Department of Health and Human Services has already paid out over $12.7 billion for these incentives." Continue reading →

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FATCA: The end of financial privacy

"Financial privacy isn’t typically considered as sexy as other forms of privacy, like our right to private beliefs, health care, property, and communications. Infringement of financial privacy doesn’t evoke the kind of outrage as other violations, because most overlook the vital role it plays in preserving human rights and protecting individuals from governmental abuse. Just as supporters of the police and surveillance state argue that individuals with nothing to hide should be willing to forfeit their right to privacy, those obsessed with collecting taxes think that the vast majority of Americans who do not engage in evasion should be willing to relinquish their financial privacy rights." Continue reading →

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Shield Law Defines Journalism So That It Leaves Out Wikileaks & Bloggers

"The new amendment, brokered by Sen. Chuck Schumer, significantly expands on that definition. Now, a journalist would be defined as someone employed by or in contract with a media outlet for at least one year within the last 20 years or three months within the last five years; someone with a substantial track record of freelancing in the last five years; or a student journalist. In addition, the law would protect a person deemed appropriate by a federal judge, so long as their newsgathering practices have been consistent with the law." Continue reading →

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Bruce Schneier: Surreptitiously Tampering with Computer Chips

"The paper talks about several uses for this type of sabotage, but the most interesting -- and devastating -- is to modify a chip's random number generator. This technique could, for example, reduce the amount of entropy in Intel's hardware random number generator from 128 bits to 32 bits. This could be done without triggering any of the built-in self-tests, without disabling any of the built-in self-tests, and without failing any randomness tests. I have no idea if the NSA convinced Intel to do this with the hardware random number generator it embedded into its CPU chips, but I do know that it could. Yes, this is a conspiracy theory. But I'm not willing to discount such things anymore." Continue reading →

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Now That Hybrids Have Become Popular…

"First, egg-on the production of hybrids and electrics via artificial inducements and special perks (such as being able to drive in those High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, even if it’s just you in the car). Wait for these unconventional cars to become pretty got-damned conventional. Then whine about the 'lost revenue' which must be recovered. Meanwhile, pass laws that double (and soon, will triple) the fuel economy of the average non-hybrid car – knowing that will provide even more excuse to whine about all the 'revenue' lost. Then hit them up with the notion of a tax-per-mile. It will not even be necessary to discuss the means by which it’ll be implemented. That will follow almost automatically." Continue reading →

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