Dying for the Empire Is Not Heroic

Predictably, the news media spent most of the week examining words Donald Trump may or may not have spoken to the widow of an American Green Beret killed in Niger, in northwest Africa, in early October. Not only was this coverage tedious, it was largely pointless. We know Trump is a clumsy boor, and we also know that lots of people are ready to pounce on him for any sort of gaffe, real or imagined. Who cares? It’s not news. But it was useful to those who wish to distract Americans from what really needs attention: the U.S. government’s perpetual war.

Alex’s Journey, and Writing Fiction (1h21m) – Episode 085

Episode 085 welcomes Alex Knight, III to the podcast for a chat with Skyler. Topics include: large print books, becoming a fiction writer, his rock bands, growing up in the Northeast United States, his parents, political awareness as a teen, marijuana legalization, Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, Harry Browne, Marc Stevens and his No State Project, thoughts on veganism, dating as an anarchist, libertarian themed short stories, and Netflix recommendations.

“Me Too” is a Branch Issue, and a Distraction

My first reaction to this campaign was a bit of umbrage on the part of lumping the many degrees of sexual harassment in with the many degrees of sexual assault. They aren’t the same. I shared that first reaction on Facebook in a couple of places and got some interesting discussion going. But as I thought about it some more, I realized what was going on here.

Microsoft Corp. v. United States: Jeff Sessions Wants Open Borders, But Only for Police

In 2013, Microsoft refused to turn information from a customer’s email account over to law enforcement pursuant to a warrant in a narcotics investigation. The information, Microsoft noted, was stored on a server in Ireland. Ireland, as you may have learned in elementary school, is neither one of the fifty states nor a US territory.  It’s a sovereign state with its own laws. US search warrants carry no weight there.