Prosthetic Conscience

Lunchtime Linkspam

DeMint, Maddow and Honduras: Don’t Dare Call It Treason

…

Maddow prefaced her remarks with a long homily on how badly the U.S. government hated military coups, because they ran counter to everything the U.S. government stands for, were so abhorrent to American values that the U.S. government cut off all ties to such repugnant pariah regimes, and blah blah woof woof.

This is amazingly stupid…

Source: 2009-10-06 Tue, DeMint, Maddow and Honduras: Don’t Dare Call It Treason

FBI Investigated Coder for Liberating Paywalled Court Records | Threat Level | Wired.com

the feds mounted a serious investigation of Swartz for helping put public documents onto the public web.

The crime of making public documents public…

Source: 2009-10-06 Tue, FBI Investigated Coder for Liberating Paywalled Court Records | Threat Level | Wired.com

The First Counter-revolutionary

This is really a brilliant article, in that it does a very clear job of explaining Hobbes’s conception of liberty, and how that conception of liberty is still held by modern libertarians (and many modern liberals) and opposed by modern radicals. It really gets to two issues that had been previously puzzling me:

1. Why some libertarians appear to prefer monarchy to democracy (see Democracy: The God That Failed for the canonical example)
2. Why I can’t get along with agorists.

Agorists are basically a split of the anarcho-capitalist tendency who maintain most of that tendency’s theory, but have a leftist cultural identification (that is, they identify or attempt to identify with the working class) rather than the rightist (owning-class) identification of mainstream anarcho-capitalists, and a robust critique of actually-existing corporatist capitalism. I’d like to see them as allies. But they always rub me the wrong way, I think this is pretty much the reason: agorists have a Hobbesian conception of liberty that is at odds with my own radical-democratic ideals.

Source: 2009-10-07 Wed, The First Counter-revolutionary

Some Libertarian Socialist Fragments « Bowers of Paradise (Life After Authority)

A good explanation of what’s wrong with the homesteading theory of property.

Source: 2009-10-07 Wed, Some Libertarian Socialist Fragments « Bowers of Paradise (Life After Authority)

Ra’s Al Ghulah - Libya

Huh, how about that?

Source: 2009-10-09 Fri, Ra’s Al Ghulah - Libya

Cameron could well be the last ever UK prime minister | Jackie Ashley | Comment is free | The Guardian

Source: 2009-10-09 Fri, Cameron could well be the last ever UK prime minister | Jackie Ashley | Comment is free | The Guardian

Charlie’s Diary: Politics

Re: Scotland leaving the UK

Source: 2009-10-10 Sat, Charlie’s Diary: Politics

LENIN’S TOMB: The pitfalls of tolerance

A discussion of “tolerance” as it exists as a tool of colonialism or of dominance.

Source: 2009-10-13 Tue, LENIN’S TOMB: The pitfalls of tolerance

The Alexandrian - Misc Creations

Dissociated mechanics

Source: 2009-10-13 Tue, The Alexandrian - Misc Creations

A Little Help From Your Friends: How Common Security Clubs Can Mend Our Social Fabric | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet

Source: 2009-10-14 Wed, A Little Help From Your Friends: How Common Security Clubs Can Mend Our Social Fabric | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet

Meet the New Healthcare Boss

How liberal tinkering with the payment system doesn’t solve the basic factors that make health care unaffordable.

Source: 2009-10-15 Thu, Meet the New Healthcare Boss

Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil

An oldie, but a goodie.

Source: 2009-10-19 Mon, Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil

Worldchanging: Bright Green: Tragedy of the Commons, R.I.P.

Over many decades Ostrom has documented how various communities manage common resources – grazing lands, forests, irrigation waters, fisheries— equitably and sustainably over the long term. The Nobel Committee’s recognition of her work effectively debunks popular theories about the Tragedy of the Commons, which hold that private property is the only effective method to prevent finite resources from being ruined or depleted.

Source: 2009-10-19 Mon, Worldchanging: Bright Green: Tragedy of the Commons, R.I.P.

Schneier on Security: The Commercial Speech Arms Race

Source: 2009-10-19 Mon, Schneier on Security: The Commercial Speech Arms Race

The 5 Most Popular Safety Laws (That Don’t Work) | Cracked.com

Via Free Range Kids.

Source: 2009-10-23 Fri, The 5 Most Popular Safety Laws (That Don’t Work) | Cracked.com

Worldchanging: Bright Green: Transition Towns or Bright Green Cities?

I basically agree with the argument here, except for the negativity about the transition movement. The problem is that a bright green future is ideal, but the chance that we will fail to bring one about is significant. I don’t begrudge anyone trying to achieve a “soft landing” on the (hopefully false!) assumption that a crash is the only alternative.

Source: 2009-10-27 Tue, Worldchanging: Bright Green: Transition Towns or Bright Green Cities?

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