2017 archive
The Digital Deride 0
Josh Marshall muses on the effects of major internet platforms’ (Twitter, a number of hosting providers, Facebook, and the like) yanking the accounts of various Neo-Nazi white supremacist actors, or, to put it another way, returning the trolls to their rightful place–under the bridge.
After noting that the irony that much of contemporary American political discourse takes place via privately-held, monolithic, for-profit platforms, he makes this trenchant observation (emphasis added):
Do please read the rest.
Manage Your Android with AirDroid 0
I have a new podcast up at Hacker Public Radio, this time about AirDroid, an Android application for managing your smartphone from your computer.
Files on phone as viewed in the Konqueror file manager via AirDroid.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Mike Pence and monumental stupidity:
“. . . and All the Ships at Sea” 0
Badtux has two posts up about the collision between a USN destroyer and an oil tanker near Singapore.
One addresses the undermanning of Navy ships, a legacy of President George the Worst; the other argues persuasively against the theory that, in some way, the guidance system of one of the ships was hacked. I commend them both to your attention.
Revolving Door 0
Alfred Doblin tries to draw conclusions from the departure of Steve Bannon from the White House. He is not optimistic that it portends substantive or positive changes. A nugget:
Judging from the president’s comments since Charlottesville, in which he has stood up for white supremacists and the Confederacy and, in response to terror attacks in Spain, continued to promote a lie about Gen. John Pershing, pig’s-blood-dipped bullets in the early-20th-century Philippines, and Muslim terrorists, Trump cannot help himself from being Trump. So I have limited hope that the removal of Bannon changes everything. But it is a start.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Familial politeness.
Louisiana authorities say a 7-year-old boy shot his aunt two times after she didn’t get him food.
Webster Parish Sheriff Gary Sexton says the child will not be charged with a crime.
He says Louisiana law states a child under the age of 10 cannot form intent, so they do not have the authority to file charges against the boy… even though he loaded and reloaded the gun during the incident.
The police think counseling may be called for. Y’think?
Aside:
Had the aunt been packing, she could have defended herself.
The Hollow Man 0
E. J. Dionne, no fan of Steve Bannon or Bannon’s politics, nevertheless finds a reason to lament his departure from the Trump administration. He points out that, for all his faults, Bannon at least believes in something, however misguided it may be. A snippet:
Is President Trump a populist or a corporatist?
Is he appealing to white supremacists as a form of political opportunism — or because, deep down, he sympathizes with their views? Is he the hard-core “fire and fury” hawk of his North Korea statements? Or is he actually a noninterventionist who disdains foreign engagement?
The answer to all these questions is: Who knows?
There is absolutely no way of establishing what Trump believes. He says whatever he feels he has to say at any given moment to get attention, strike back at foes, or advance his personal (especially economic) interests.
Freedom of Screech 0
Thom wonders about the limits (and there are already limits, as Thom points out) on freedom of speech.