Link Bundle #3

Clearing out yet more old tabs on the browser.

Cop catches his supervisor on video demanding to know why he hasn't arrested enough black people. 

Different cops beat the hell out of a black man, then claim self-defense, not knowing surveillance cameras would prove their lie.

North Carolina Republicans were working to systematically make it difficult if not impossible for Democratic-leaning people to vote.

North Carolina isn't alone in working to disenfranchise voters. Republicans are using wild claims of illegal voters to justify voter purges- despite the fact that the people making the claims are known liars and con men.

A concise description of what the alt-right is. Short: cowardly fascists. 

Another reminder: the alt-right is not about free speech. It's not about tolerance. It's not about anything else except racism, bigotry, and evil. To say "alt-right" is the same thing as to say "KKK", "White Citizens Committee," and "Nazi." It's all the same thing, just wearing a fancy suit and waving a Kekistan flag.

And Trump, let it be always remembered, is their man. He's proven it by his words, his deeds, and the company he keeps. (Note: Ben Rodriguez, a former creative collaborator of mine, has become an ardent follower of Castalia House publisher and Rabid Puppies fascist troll Vox Day, the man quoted in the first linked article for saying, "There is no more Republican vs. Democrat. It is now whites vs. non-whites and white quislings.")

Speaking of Kekistan: How alt-right trolls took an obscure, poorly drawn cartoon and made it the face of hate, racism, and sadism on the Internet.

A common tactic of abusers is to tell their victim, "What's the matter with you? I'm just playing with you!" It's a common lie, and the alt-right uses the "I'm joking" defense for the exact same reasons. The idea is to get the victims to let them continue, to let them grow stronger, to get a tighter grip on them, until escape becomes impossible.

 Written a year ago, before Trump's election, this article is a lot more sympathetic than most would be today. What I take from it: the well-off despise those with less than they have, and the poor whites generally despise non-whites who appear to get government help they themselves are too proud to accept. Oh, and both sides are fervent believers in conspiracies.

Short version: when wealth concentrates, it ceases to circulate, choking the economy. The more concentrated the wealth, the more it tends to concentrate even more, squeezing everyone else.

Short version: self-control is a total myth. Any system that relies on it to function WILL fail.

I must remember to seek out and buy some Penzey's spices.

A thorough coverage of the history of Presidential disability in office, and how government coped- or failed to cope.

A reminder that the world has seen rich businessmen elected to executive office before. The trend is, the richer the businessman, the MORE corrupt his administration.

We are in a new cold war with Vladmir Putin's Russia, even if few in Washington want to admit it. Putin is deliberately spreading misinformation to influence elections around the world. His end goal: to discredit democracy, weaken Russia's enemies, and bring about a world order of totalitarian, white-supremacist regimes. And Putin's support of Trump's campaign, about which more facts come out every day, was part and parcel of that.

And I think I'll stop there for now.

Mass Link Bundle

I really need to use this blog more often.

One of the problems with Facebook is that it makes it easy to just "share link", say a little bit about a thing, and then forget about it... and Facebook's magic makes it impossibe to find that link ever, ever again.

Another problem I have, not connected to Facebook, is that I will often read a link, think, "I want to say something about this, but I need to think about it," and then... just... let it sit there... in the tabs on my browser...

... which, at the moment, are up to something like a hundred tabs.

So, this is me, clearing out some (not all) of those tabs, and at the same time archiving the links in a place where they can be found. Some of these go back quite some time- they've been building up.

Starting with the most recent and moving backwards through my tabs row:

On how direct cash aid to individuals is the most effective means of ending poverty and boosting the economy, but envy and hatred of the poor sabotages it.

I like parts of this proposal, but I agree more explanation needs to happen.

Democratic leadership is still pro-business, anti-worker, and deaf as a post to what people are actually asking for- specifically, that corporations be reined in and that people get a decent wage and conditions at their jobs.

Of course, mechanization is on course to eliminate most human jobs, leaving the majority of mankind unemployable unless we do something about it.

White people forget that the Detroit Riots were a reaction to decades of police brutality and public segregation against black people.

This guy was the first: as of this week, three or four other top cybersecurity people have bailed out of executive-branch departments. Wonder why?

Brian Babin, my Congressman, wants to make it illegal to extend civil rights protection over transsexual people.

If you were wondering how Donald Trump won (despite the ten kazillion opinions on that subject expressed since the election), here's one clue: Hillary Clinton is even more disliked than he is.

Re: Trump-Russia collusion: How much more smoke does there have to be until we can safely assume there's a fire?


... and, well, I've run out of room in the tags. Guess I'll do more of this tomorrow.