I’m usually surprised by the coverage regarding NSA/CIA/FBI spying: there’s some stuff we definitely should be scared of, and there’s other stuff that I file under “so, what?”
For example, the fact that the US government has consistently ignored its own laws regarding wiretapping: nobody who has observed any government in action should be surprised by that.
Via Atlas Obscura: Bat Girl rescues Bat Man and Robin.
Warning: sexism, body self-image, marketing
A friend of mine sent me a link to this, because someone gave them this product as a sort of a joke… But it’s not a joke.
The story is that Louis XIV had 16-lb’er cannon cast with the words “Ultima Ratio Regum” in the decoration.
I was not very impressed with Mad Max: Fury Road, except that it had a laudable shortage of Mel Gibson and a great deal of Charlize Theron. I went to see it, however, because I know director Miller is a big fan of in-camera stunts and there’s real artistry in the over-the-topness of his movies.
The news about US troops engaging in Syria has been pretty low-key. Probably because, you know, it exposes some government lies about the degree to which the military is/was going to get involved in the fighting in the area.
I did this back during the “Occupy” days before Occupy Wall St was broken up. New York City had just decided it might enforce an old ordinance making public mask-wearing illegal.[1]
I am having trouble getting to rt.com (Russia Times, right?)
I suspect that there is an optimal and a peak conspiracy size, beyond which it becomes nearly impossible to keep a secret.
Jean Meslier
The first legislators of nations had for their object to dominate, The easiest means of succeeding was to frighten the people and to prevent them from reasoning; they led them by tortuous paths in order that they should not perceive the designs of their guides; they compelled them to look into the air, for fear they should look to their feet; they amused them upon the road by stories; in a word, they treated them in the way of nurses, who employ songs and menaces to put the children to sleep, or to force them to be quiet.