The NSA story is developing a little too fast for more than a periodic roundup (we did have an inflammatory story last night that the NSA was tapping phones without a warrant, but that now appears to be bogus).
Moving on…
The Rise and Scale of Surveillance
The AP has a story about how PRISM was developed. The number of requests for information continued to ramp up and PRISM was created to ease the … Read more
Wow:
In a striking repudiation of the ultraconservatives who wield power in Iran, voters here overwhelmingly elected a mild-mannered cleric who advocates greater personal freedoms and a more conciliatory approach to the world.
The cleric, Hassan Rowhani, 64, won a commanding 50.7 percent of the vote in the six-way race, according to final results released Saturday, avoiding a runoff in the race to replace the departing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose tenure was defined largely
Not sure if anyone else is keeping up with the new season of The Venture Brothers, but it is one of only three reasons I even bother owning a television. On its own, it’s a great source of music thread material. The chief “villain” is David Bowie and Dr. Venture draws his greatest inspiration from progressive rock, after all. But what really drives the show is Super Science. All of the origin stories, … Read more
A show of hands, please, is there anyone here (we won’t laugh at you, I promise) who watches Blaze TV?
Last time I even heard about Glenn Beck, he left Foxnews to peddle his own (paid) internet streaming service. Never being a Beck fan, I never missed him. But about 2 months ago I was looking at the Free Preview channel on Dish (my TV provider) and I saw Blaze TV mentioned. Now I guess … Read more
The White House has made it official: Syria has crossed the “red line” of using chemical weapons on the opposition. McCain, ever eager for another war, is saying we are going to start aiding the rebels. The WH has yet to confirm.
The Syrian opposition is kind of difficult to define. But we know at least one element includes radical Islamists. We should stay out. It’s a horrible thing — 100,000 dead according to … Read more
If you are want to believe the bullshit coming from “the most ethical and transparent administration evah!”, you are probably one of the idiots defending them and pointing out that the NSA basically wholesale collection of information, on all Americans, isn’t such a bad thing. Probably because based on the usual commentary the insane fucks defending this shit leave justifying the indefensible, you feel that since these marxist-nanny staters that share the same ideology as … Read more
No doubt everyone caught this story last week about some female IDF soldiers trapesing around in their bloomers. I think our aid package needs to be increased, get those girls some clothes. The usual fall out from the stuffed shirts in headquarters was predictable, and the female soldiers were punished, each got a severe spanking.
But more high jinks has been uncovered, where do I sign up?
A rudimentary perusal of youtube will provide … Read more
I wanted to do a follow up from the GoT post that is not particularly flattering to Americans, fleshing out a theory I’ve had for quite awhile now. A nature extension of the instant gratification/low information/fast food society we find ourselves in, is Hollywood just following suit? Has lowered IQ’s and attention spans demanded a change in formula to accommodate, a dumbing down, where titillation (nudity and F bombs) is now a stable, not only … Read more
I have thought from early on that the revelation of the government’s massive surveillance operation is a good thing and little that has happened in the past few days has altered that opinion. Already, we are seeing some good coming out of Edward Snowden’s revelations: Google is asking to publish more information; a bipartisan group of Senators want this dragged out into the open; the ACLU is suing. The result of all this … Read more
But is regulatory despair?
Nearly all development economists agree that good institutions—legislatures, courts, administrative agencies—are crucial. When poor countries improve their institutions, economic growth soon accelerates. But what about rich countries? If poor countries can get rich by improving their institutions, is it not possible that rich countries can get poor by allowing their institutions to degenerate? I want to suggest that it is.
Consider the evidence from the annual “Doing Business” reports from
