Testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committee, officials from the FBI, CIA, NSA, et al. warned Americans against using phones made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. Why? Because, Christopher Wray (Comey’s successor at the FBI) explains, the Chinese government might equip, or find and exploit weaknesses in, such phones to “maliciously modify or steal information” and “conduct undetected espionage.”
Tag: government
The Transition from Slavery to Freedom
I sometimes hear people, including freedom advocates, pondering how society might “transition” from an authoritarian system to a stateless society. The implication is that there could be some sort of gradual, peaceful phasing in of freedom, and a phasing out of governmental controls. But that is not how things works, and not how things will ever work.
It’s Not What They Claim It Is
Libertarianism is not about what many of its enemies pretend it is about. It is not about being “anti-government”. What it is about is the recognition that no one has the right to initiate force or violate private property. In other words, no one has the right to archate. That’s it, period.
Nonsense on Stilts
An English proverb holds that a lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on. It also appears to be the case that a government can be shot through with corruption before the ink is dried on its Constitution.
Parenting Objectives, Tyranny, Enjoying Life, & Taxation (26m) – Editor’s Break 058
Editor’s Break 058 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: his objectives as a parent raising children, the goal of all purposeful behavior, why the power to detain is the definition of tyranny, enjoying the small moments in life, income vs. consumption taxation, and more.
Tyranny Spotlight: Cheril Hardy Tarrant County Judge
Cheril had no evidence of jurisdiction, no evidence even suggesting Bao was psychologically unsound; she imprisoned Bao as a punishment for daring to challenge the prosecution’s claims and the proceedings against him. Cheril is a criminal whose actions clearly demonstrate that she has psychological issues such as anti-social behavior.
Fear of Modernity and Progress?
The contention, held by many libertarians, of expertise isn’t in the accruement of specialized knowledge by dedicated and brilliant individuals. The contention lies in the contemporary social belief that these individuals knowledge shouldn’t just be a tool in our choices to refine ourselves, our lives, our companies, our products, and our world around us, but rather unquestionable truth with overt or covert implications on social norms and government policy.
How Much Worse Will We Allow it To Get?
Every day, without exception, I learn about people being kidnapped, caged, and even killed by the state. They do not meet these fates because they hurt anyone. They are not targeted because they pose an imminent danger to their fellow men. No, these people are victimized by the state solely because they make choices which go against the preferences of politicians and bureaucrats.
Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics II — Climate Change
Nobody asked but … I didn’t want to create the impression in my recent post that I disbelieve climate change. All I’m saying is that it is highly improbable that the data is being gathered in an honest way. And I don’t mean honest as opposed to deliberately fallacious. Just as period music should be…
A Great Deal of Ruin
Probably the only thing that keeps a country from going full-frontal totalitarian at once is that the negative economic effects of the government’s actions can take such a toll that people begin to give some weight to that consideration, even though they rarely see through any of the grasping, brutal programs the government carries out, even the most ruinous ones.