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On being a functionary, believing conspiracy theories, and the nature of liberty

"A rough rule goes like this: The freer a society the less inclined it is to conspiracy theories, while the greater its culture of dependency the more it will tend to see hidden hands at work everywhere. France remains a nation of Napoleonic centralism where the functionary’s mentality holds sway. The ingrained reflex of that mind-set is to look to the state for salvation, to believe in some all-orchestrating higher power." (Roger Cohen, NYT)

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Take this you heathens!

Bomb plot foiled in Dearborn: Funny how all these mentally ill types of violent inclination come out of the woodwork when the feds need to get the public all scared in order to push through their unpopular agenda. I'm not given to conspiracy theories myself but this phenomenon sure is convenient for those in power right now ain't it? Just sayin'...

Some head-case Viet Nam vet from California just "decides" to load up his van with fireworks and drive to Dearborn, Michigan's biggest mosque with it all. And then stops at a bar to brag, boast and strut about what he's about to do? Seriously? This kinda shit is straight out of X-files or Info Wars. Just lots of mentally disturbed sleepers out there that their shadowy masters can activate with a phone call or email. Cui bono?

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More grist for the tin-foil-hat brigades to grind through. The JFK murder in 1963 (AKA "the mother of all conspiracy theories") now has even more obscure and convoluted "evidence" for researchers to pick through.

Sign of the times...

Detroit lawyer in Hutaree militia case sued for allegedly defaulting on student loan
Just a coincidence I'm sure. It has nothing to due with his great effectiveness as a lawyer or that he really needs to be preparing for the big trial rather than this shit. Go figure? Via Ann Arbor.com

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The Homeless Modern - Intercollegiate Review (via Front Porch Republic) (pdf file)

Liberal democracy is not the end of history. Never was.

Anti-Obama pundit deeply nervous about Pres ditching media - American Thinker (Cat Corben)
The uncomfortable concept of an “assassination warrant”- Bloggingheads.tv (video)
Julian Sanchez vs. Eli Lake on the issue of the US gov killing it's own citizens.

Nazi X-Men versus English warlocks during WWII? - Bitter Seeds

An alternative history novel of WWII (via boingboing)

The trouble with SEIU pres Andy Stern is that he wasn't ruthless enough! - The Awl (N. Vargas-Cooper)

Sign of the Times...

The Detroit News is reporting that in addition to taking over three counties, assassinating the entire Hudson, Michigan police force, and thereby causing Jesus to return, the Hutaree Militia (all nine of them) also offered to jail-break a confined bomb-making ex-felon too! Wow.

The more the feds reveal their case the more absurd this whole conspiracy thing seems. Leaving aside the apocalyptic return of the deity, accomplishing everything on the ever increasing list the US Attorney's office is providing the media is starting to strain credulity. And keep in mind when you hear all this stuff from the feds through the media that according to relatives the Hutaree commander-in-chief often couldn't even "keep a decent vehicle running" to get to and from work too. And we've already seen the condition of his homestead. But even so, we are told, he/they still had the wherewithal to launch this vast conspiracy of murder, mayhem, terrorism, sedition, treason and bring about a religious apocalypse. And as the Fed's list gets longer and longer it should start to make people wonder about who is really more out of touch with reality in this case.

The feds put an informant inside the group and then recorded every outburst, empty boast, rant, rave and remark and used it to indict them all. But, as previously noted, a good prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich if need be. And whatever else federal law enforcement may be it seems to be good enough to indict these talkative and overwrought types who's principal activity seems to be running their mouths about politics and dressing up in camouflage and posing for pictures with their rifles instead of working a little harder to improve their standard of living.

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Ex-wife of militia leader drops dime on her former husband. Feds do the rest. - Ann Arbor.com

Based on what the media has written here so far, there doesn't seem to be much of a case beyond a pissed-offed ex-wife and some angry words. We'll see what else develops, eh? Angry working class white men are never really in fashion amongst the media elites any how are they? The big-shots in D.C. need a boogey-man to trot out before the media right now too. And if your favorite tool is a hammer, then every problem that comes your way seems like a nail needing to be pounded.

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Screw white working-class voters! - The American Prospect (Alexandra Gutierrez)

The Dems have had it with us! We don't vote for them reliably enough and we're just plain stupid to boot.

"Eighteen months of severe recession have brought to the surface old truths that many chose to forget when times seemed to be good." - Front Porch Republic (Allan Carlson)

"The business cycle has not been eliminated; finance capitalism is by its nature unstable; politically-connected corporations commonly escape market discipline; and there is nothing conservative about the 'creative destruction' of a capitalist economy."

“People routinely mispredict how much pleasure or displeasure future events will bring.” - The New Yorker (Elizabeth Kolbert)
Suspended Animation may be possible soon. - Popular Science

Police may be closing in on Colton Harris-Moore - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Yeah sure. How many times have we heard that before? Anyhow, they'd better capture him soon or he's gonna become a folk hero to people or something. Not the people who's homes he's burglarized over the years though.

An examination of American conspiracy theorists. - Center For A Stateless Society (Kevin Carson)
"In short, both the Baptists and people like Marshall and Olbermann — like conspiracy nuts — attempt to impose meaning on reality by reading a coherent narrative into random and unrelated events."

Banksters & politicians continue to ruin the American economy. - Taki's Magazine (Paul Craig Roberts)

The life & death of the Rolodex - Gizmodo (Anna Grossman)

Some history mixed with nostalgia an obsolete technology.