politics

Telling the Truth is Not a Defense Link

Blogger tells the truth about a con man. Con man sues for deferential interference and wins. Blogger appeals for a year and is finally vindicated. Vindication is not winning if you still had to pay a lawyer for two years.

Rewriting History Link

An interesting opinion piece about the concerted effort to revise the history of the US founders. Though Founders such as Jefferson and James Madison may have been out of sympathy with the Protestant orthodoxy, they were still cultural Protestants, and would probably have been shocked that the nation that they founded now has a Protestant minority. Or, that the Supreme Court has no Protestants.

White Terrorists Link

Doing a study on the danger of white terrorists at the Department of Homeland Security will get you sidelined by angry white Congressmen. Doing studies on other kinds of terrorists is a guaranteed promotion. — Juan Cole What sounds tongue-and-cheek is sadly true. Fear mongering is very profitable. By way of Frakinstosh

SOPA in Pieces From Lamar Smith Link

The bill also "elevates" the IP attaches out of the US Patent and Trademark Office, and sets them up as their own agency, including a new role: the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. Yes, we'll get another IP Czar, this time focused in the Commerce Department. There is nothing about this that surprises me. I predict that every bit of SOPA will still be enacted. Corporations have paid good money for their shills in congress and they damn well expect some results.

License to Steal Link

If this was going on in the private sector or it was going on in the executive branch, I think the SEC would be investigating The people that are effective at running for office are exactly the kind of people that should not hold public office.

Byron Sonne Link

Remember kids, even when the judicial system works, you're still pretty much screwed. A moment of sanity from the Canadian judicial system, and all it cost was Sonne's marriage, house, and freedom.