The surveillance state would like us to believe that it’s there for our protection. But, it’s rather obviously not – either because it’s really there for political control, or it’s too incompetent. I can’t decide which.
The climate disaster is going to be compounded by humans’ disastrous response. Imagine if you were in a burning building and there were marketing teams trying to convince you “that’s not fire!” and a government that was deeply invested in throwing burning fossil fuels about, with abandon.
I don’t know any economists. But, I assume that there are real economists out there that are trying to do science and understand finance and markets, etc. And, I assume that they are constantly in a state of forehead-pounding rage over “popular economics” and the vast amount of bullshit that is spouted in the name of “economics.”
The other night I was doing some google-whacking, looking for coverage regarding which of Trump’s advisors may have played an active role in talking him into the very bad idea that he could extend his time in office illegally.
Parler is a security disaster in progress.
Last night, I found myself obsessively reading about Hitler’s beer hall putsch. So many journalists are calling Trump’s coup attempt stuff like “the beer belly putsch” etc., that I figure the back-story is probably more interesting.
Depending on how you count it, the numbers may not be exact. The records of what happened are not as good as they ought to be, for reasons that will become clear.
Of course, I have thoughts about today. In no particular order, with no particular organization, they are as follows.
Hanna Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism has been widely quoted, lately. To say it’s interesting is an understatement, but I have long felt that she’s over-generalizing the commonalities between Stalinism and Hitlerism.
This one is mind-bogglingly stupid. But the story serves as a good example of what I mean when I say that computer security can only get so good, because the whole ecosystem is so thoroughly undermined that any effort to secure it can be over-topped by the attackers, with minimal additional effort.