July 21, 2003
Now Go Home
Hilarious exchange from Slashdot, as reported over at End The War On Freedom:
"I wish all you gun-toting fucktards would just go create your own nation."
"We did. Who the hell let you in here?"
July 06, 2003
A Healthy Disrespect For The State
I didn't comment on the recent Supreme Court opinion that pretty much wiped out laws against consensual adult sodomy. The opinion was obviously a net gain for liberty, but the legal reasoning was dodgy and I'm not much of a constitutionalist anyway. Moreover, I tired quickly of all the public hand-wringing about what the opinion would mean for the gay marriage movement. My attitude, of course, is that the state has no business licensing marriages any more than it should license fornication, or chastity for that matter. Thus I was amused by this comment over at Note of The Day:
[M]y commitment to another, to my primary love, does not require society's stamp of approval or any kind of legally binding tie. We determine the rules and boundaries and responsibilities and privileges of our relationship; we don't allow society or legislators to do it. I made sacred ritual vows to Geoffrey, promised before the gods I worship, under the setting sun of the equinox atop a volcano, witnessed by dear friends and my children. If that's not good enough, no piece of paper with a state seal on it will be.
Amen Sister!
Fair warning, the nice lady at Note of the Day often writes quite frankly about her sex life. So you might not want to click through if you are one of those conservative wankers who thinks reading blunt talk about sex will bring about the immediate downfall of the American Empire, or will give you spotted wiener disease, or whatever other dire thing it is that's supposed to happen when couples stop sleeping in separate beds.
July 05, 2003
Not A Police State?
Lots of folks get very angry when I say this country is turning into a police state. But how else can you explain stories like this, where a man in Oklahoma gets a life sentence for spitting on a cop?
It used to be that only the king or the emperor was entitled to this sort of "off with his head" reaction to disrespect. Now, every cop is an emperor. Is that not a sign of a police state?
July 04, 2003
July 03, 2003
Well, Yes
Apropos this post:
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” -- William Pitt
Thanks to Electrolite for posting this quote and reminding me of it.
Mmmm, Fresh Capitalism
Live from the front, in Sophia, Bulgaria, jkrank of Sophia Sideshow writes about insurance in a place where the old laws against everthing are gone or ignored and the new ones haven't had time to get all stuck to the roof of everybody's brain:
Insurance is a funny thing here. There are several Bulgarian insurance companies here, that will take your money (cash only, in advance) and give you some documents with stamps on them. There are few insurance companies that will actually reimburse you for damage or theft to the car they insure.
Thus, Sofia has the Thieves Guild, er, the Bulgarian Mafia, who have set up their own legitimate insurance company; it works like this:
You give them money, they give your car a flashy sticker, which shows that you are protected under their insurance. Your car is rarely stolen, apparently, and they send people to 'investigate' any theft of their protected car. They also get your car back (or a car that looks very similar to your car) with a considerable success rate. I know a couple people who have got their car back (or, a car very much like the car that was officially theirs) after a theft.
A novel concept, that works well for Bulgaria. Less paperwork, I hear, also.
July 02, 2003
Plot Against Santa Still Classified
Here's a funny story. It seems that thirty years ago some spooks wrote a joke memo about a terrorist plot against Santa Claus. The memo was, of course, classified. It was also (apparently -- details are fuzzy) discussed in a broader 1974 CIA report (also classified) on international terrorism.
Fast forward to 1999, when the Clinton Administration forced the declassification of many classified documents. The CIA cooperated so fully that when it "redacted" (censored) the 1974 report before release, it blacked out the discussion of the Santa memo. Too sensitive to be revealed to the public. Unfortunately, the complete 1974 report was available in the Gerald Ford library. Ooops.
Nice to know that the CIA is under the firm control of the executive branch, eh?