How “skilled” did he have to be?

Gaius ponders: More interesting than the leaks, so far, is the question how some lowly PFC had access to this stuff and the answer seems to be that he didn’t, he is a skilled hacker who hacked far and wide. He didn’t need to be a skilled hacker, if indeed he was one. The mighty [...]

Read Full Post »

I’m not a consumer, dammit

I’m a patient! Budget proposals from leaders in both parties have urged shrinking or eliminating tax breaks that help make employer health insurance the leading source of coverage in the nation and a middle-class mainstay. The idea isn’t to just raise revenue, economists say, but finally to turn Americans into frugal health care consumers by [...]

Read Full Post »

We used to call them Okies

Lunchboxes in hand, “Amazon Gypsies” walk down the hill to work from the company camp built on a gravel parking lot next to an auto junkyard. A nearby state park extended its hours through Christmas at Amazon’s request. Amazon pays campsite rental, water, sewer and electric. Some campers choose to save their propane and rely [...]

Read Full Post »

Resistance is futile

If that’s all you’ve got, that is. I used to be inspired by Chris Hedges’ writings, now I’m just bored.  No, make that, frustrated. Maybe it’s that I find it difficult to take seriously the man who tells us all about what atheists “believe” and yet gets it all so completely wrong.  In this one essay, Hedges [...]

Read Full Post »

A day late – thoughts on thankfulness

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder A few treasures I’m conscious of: My family. They know me better than anyone and love me anyway. (Okay, that may not apply to the close relative who unfriended me on Facebook, but I’m going to keep [...]

Read Full Post »

I hate all of them

Oh, shit. I was going to excerpt it, but the whole mess is so awful that you just have to read it yourself.  Read it to the bloody end. After that go peruse the chart over at Corrente, just in case you needed to be told.

Read Full Post »

As I suspected

As the morning drew to a close, though, major airports were humming along normally, and most travelers seemed more interested in getting to their destinations than in making a political statement. Those who have vocally opposed the Transportation Safety Administration’s use of full-body scanners and more invasive pat-downs had hoped that travelers would voice their [...]

Read Full Post »

Joe’s Back

And he needs our help.

Read Full Post »

“You’re flying in a seat in the sky!”

I just heard about this You Tube video yesterday (thank you, Skepticality!) and looked it up today.  Yes, I am amazed at our technology. Back in the day when I was thumbing through the card catalog at the local library did I ever dream I’d hold a miniature computer in my hand that literally gives me the world.  [...]

Read Full Post »

Where were you? UPDATED

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. Man oh man, there’s been all sort of sound and fury this past week or so. Some guy screams “Don’t touch my junk, bro!” (okay, I added the “bro” part), and we all come apart [...]

Read Full Post »