Recently, a publicist offered me a free copy of a book that she was representing. In return, she hoped that I would post a review here on Windypundit. Based on her description of the novel as a legal thriller, I said "sure" and she sent me an e-book version for my Kindle.The book had a terrific opening chapter, filled with well-observed scene setting and rich detail, and … [Read more...] about A Brief Explanation Of My Review Policy
Heads They Win, Tails You Lose
So, a few months ago, I wrote a post about sequestration in which I said, basically, bring it on!I had a couple of reasons for saying that. First of all, from my libertarian point of view some of the threatened cuts were pretty awesome. The Obama administration was threatening to cut federal grants to law enforcement, the TSA, Customs and Border Protection, and especially … [Read more...] about Heads They Win, Tails You Lose
Someday They’ll Get It
Today's fun Supreme Court fact (it was today's when I started writing this) is that according to Justice Elena Kagen, most of the justices don't know shit about computers and the internet. That makes sense since they're (1) lawyers and (2) old."The justices are not necessarily the most technologically sophisticated people," she said, adding that while clerks email one … [Read more...] about Someday They’ll Get It
Does the NSA Have a CA?
Since Edward Snowden started leaking secrets to the media, we've learned that our government has been up to all kinds of sneaky things -- surveiling our allies, getting call records from big telecom providers, retrieving information from online services about our online activity, building massive databases, keeping data about Americans for years.One of the reasons these … [Read more...] about Does the NSA Have a CA?
Checkpoints And Despotism
So this story just makes me feel miserable: The partner of the Guardian journalist who has written a series of stories revealing mass surveillance programmes by the US National Security Agency was held for almost nine hours on Sunday by UK authorities as he passed through London's Heathrow airport on his way home to Rio de Janeiro.David Miranda, who lives with Glenn … [Read more...] about Checkpoints And Despotism