This is one of those nights. I did some work looking into just how foolish the idea of state-run Internet is, and now I’m out of time to do this, sorry to say. Quick links time!
The Senate is taking up STELA. Let’s hope the Democrats now don’t inject something into this virtually must-pass legislation, after House Republicans were kind enough to hold back.
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Even as Bitcoin crime and deception continue, the government has decided that yup, Bitcoin investors have to pay taxes just like everyone else. The anarchists have deemed taxation to be “unacceptable”. I’m sure the IRS will take that as an answer, right guys? Pass the popcorn.
Even if the Obama administration’s data use is way up, the answer is not to abolish NSA, or start shutting down programs entirely. Marco Rubio is right that it would amount to unilateral disarmament. I wonder if he reads RedState!
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Gotta love how Rand Paul grandstands, accomplishes nothing, but then claims credit for everything.
How you can tell when it’s time for the Congress just to sit down and do nothing. When Democrats and Republicans are making uncharacteristic arguments. Isn’t it strange that Rick Perry, who famously put out a book in praise of federalism, is against federalism on gambling? I’m just going to assume there’s some fluky thing at work here and ignore this aberration from him.
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At this point, anyone claiming Edward Snowden is anything but a spy against America is being willfully blind. Snowden now attacking alleged US operations against Communist China, an act that there is no legitimate pro-American interest in. It makes us just have to wonder what else he gave them as he gives them information and propaganda material now.
It’s kinda funny how Democrats screech like harpies about a “clean” bill for STELA, trying to block meaningful retransmission consent reform, but they’re trying to tack the IMF onto unrelated bills in the Senate.
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Imagine you have a neighbor, let’s call him Chet Glix. He comes over and offers a deal to you: When he’s out of town, you water his plants, feed his pet, mow his lawn, and get his mail. When you’re out of town, he’ll do the same for you. Sound fair? Not quite. He travels once a week, you travel once everyfew months. Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of unbalanced “peering” deal Netflix wants to force ISPs to make under the name of “Net Neutrality.” And that’s why we should reject Netflix calling fairness and paying for what you use a “tax”
What if we called Netflix’s fees an unfair tax and demanded they give us free movie peering in the name of Movie Neturality?
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FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly makes a great point about how to approach FCC and Communications Act reform. Assume regulators will abuse it and write defensively.
Yet another Tor child pornography ring has been caught, so why exactly should I cry if Tor users are claiming Apple is ignoring problems? These guys are ignoring the critical problem of serious crimes on their network, after all.
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DOJ is coming after human trafficking coordinated online. But don’t worry guys, all the drug dealers on Silk Road who get people hooked aren’t to blame at all, except that a lot of the victims of human trafficking get sucked into it via drug addiction. Let alone all the direct human trafficking done via Tor with Bitcoin.
In 1997 I attended a speech by Warren Buffett. One thing I’ve always remembered from it, was how he explained he prefers to invest in businesses he understands, like Coca Cola. Buffett staying away from Bitcoin doesn’t surprise me a bit. I doubt he does understand it, but at the same time the outrage by the Bitcoin ideologues is delicious. I guess it beats continued sobbing over all the exchanges that keep dying.
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Gotta love it when the left uncritically regurgitates Sprint’s misleading talking points when they’d be having a hysterical screaming fit in the event I did the same to support my views.
Sadly I was right in my predictions about Obama back when hef irst took office, and Marco Rubio was right. The Obama administration is handing over the Internet to the UN, a blow to liberty and a victory for dictators around the world. I’m sure Rand Paul’s on board, since he wouldn’t want to tweak any dictators or anything.
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Sprint is doing what I said Sprint would do all along. Remember when AT&T wanted to buy T-Mobile? Sprint funded a campaign by radical leftists to claim the #2 firm and the #4 firm coming together would be unbearably detrimental to competition, and would hinder American wireless.
Sprint’s new Japanese owners want T-Mobile, they want the #3 firm and the #4 firm to merge together into one, still reducing top-tier competition by one firm, according to the beancounting they used to do. T-Mobile claims it’s inevitable, but Sprint is playing an unfortunate game. They’re using all the left-wing, ridiculous talking points about Internet access in America to push their case.
The problem with that, never mind that Japan’s population density is nothing like America’s, and therefore no comparison is Apples-to-Apples. But as Jon Henke points out, now that Sprint laid out the case against a similar merger, they’re probably going to have to enter into an FCC-empowering agreement in order to get this deal done. That harms Sprint, and that harms America.
So the anti-American hate rally SXSW (in crony Democrat-run Austin) is on, though apparently some patriots haven’t gotten the message and keep going anyway. Edward Snowden stands in Russia ruled by authoritarian Vladimir Putin, and as Putin’s tanks roll into Ukraine followed by cyberwar against all who speak out against it, Snowden claims the NSA is the one attacking the Internet. I see he’s bucking for the job as the new RT America host.
And then they also let fugitive rapist (and co-conspirator with convicted spy Bradley Manning) Julian Assange speak, from his spot in the embassy of Ecuador, a country ruled for years by a leftist President and a regime conducting routine human rights violations. He made no apology for his rape, and promises more propaganda against America.
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