Peter Jackson (yes, that Peter Jackson) and Kevin Carson on the West Memphis Three.
Tag Archives | The Thin Blue Line
You May Ask Yourself, How Do I Work This?
Apparently this guy only ever learned one way of opening doors. (CHT Stacy Litz.) Good thing that there were others on hand who could draw on a broader range of life experience to help him out.
Let the Work of Government Begin
Britain’s current PM came to power wrapping himself in anti-big-government rhetoric. No surprise that once in power he talks a bit differently:
In an emergency meeting of the House of Commons, David Cameron indicated that the police could be given powers to shut down social networks during times of unrest, and widen officers’ remit to compel people to remove face coverings.
Remember how the Western political establishment spoke in a unified voice of condemnation when governments in Egypt and Iran shut down social media networks like Twitter in an attempt to prevent protestors from coordinating? Double standard, anyone?
“This is a time for our country to pull together,” said Cameron, praising those who had taken to the streets to defend their communities from thugs.
Cameron’s praise for those who “had taken to the streets to defend their communities from thugs” seems a bit selective. After all, the riots began as protests against murderous thugs in police uniforms; but I doubt that Cameron meant to be praising the protestors – or encouraging his subjects to take to the streets to defend free communication against Cameron’s own thuggish plans for censorship.
Why Lawrence O’Donnell Is Not a Real Journalist Either
Lawrence O’Donnell accuses a “right-wing website” (he means Reason.com) for refusing to criticise cops – even though Reason.com not only frequently criticises cops, but regularly carries the columns of Radley Balko, one of the most prominent critics of police brutality in the country.
Nick Gillespie responds.
Kevin Carson responds.
Radley Balko responds and then responds some more.
I would hold my breath waiting for O’Donnell’s apology and retraction, only I’m not suicidal. As Kevin points out, O’Donnell himself has admitted that he regards only the great and powerful as deserving of courtesy.
Anarchy Not In the U.K.
“Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local police.” – London Metropolitan Police (plagiarising Wikipedia for the first sentence).
(CHT LRC.)
An Ambiguous Dystopia
Going through old papers I find this gem from my Randian past: a very short sf story that I wrote in (but not for) college, titled “Under the Violet Sun.”
Some of my stories actually had plots (hopefully I’ll dig them up eventually). This one, not so much.