politics

Portland and the Paramilitarization of the Border Patrol “Indeed, few people realize that the court system has upheld CBP’s claim that the “border zone” should extend 100 miles from any national or coastal boundary, a line that encompasses nearly two‐​thirds of all Americans. Within that zone and regardless of whether you are an immigrant, CBP agents can search you without a warrant, detain you without probable cause, and even deport citizens without due process....

economists discuss the impacts or merits of the AOC tax comments/proposal. i’m inclined to agree with the assertion that the AOC proposal is largely symbolic. however, it will be interesting to see if there’s practical discussion around the notion of deregulation of building in large cities. (ref: SFO and MSP debates on this) if there’s anything wealthy, white “liberals” hate, it’s folks messing with the value of their homes.

zadie smith a talk given in Berlin on November 10 on receiving the 2016 Welt Literature Prize. I did not understand that I was “championing” multiculturalism by simply depicting it, or by describing it as anything other than incipient tragedy. … Racial homogeneity is no guarantor of peace, any more than racial heterogeneity is fated to fail. … I find these days that a wistful form of time travel has become a persistent political theme, both on the right and on the left....

if the DFL’s really being honest … this is dark, but pretty much nails it. ...

this article landed in my reading queue a few days ago. in summary - if you want action on something, it better impact some segment of wealthy folks impacted as well. otherwise, the world at large seems to care a lot less and/or the marketing will be a lot less effective. on some issues, moral appeals don’t seem to work - a sobering reminder. however, if you prefer, the more on-point summary....

how we got where we are The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. – Maxims for Revolutionists, George Bernard Shaw (nybooks) on the value of social capital here’s an interesting little nugget re: the broadening inequality… resources enable you to make the necessary investments in your kids that insure access to the necessary networks....

via @schneierblog this AM, a pointer to a wired article about how the wifi providers have cut a deal with the government to put more than the necessary lawful intercept capabilities into their systems. of particular note is the addition of a CAPTCHA to the system. ...

this has been making the rounds. ...