Category Archives: Civil Liberties

Vaccines, ‘Passports’, and Lying

Posted on June 15, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

Regular readers will know that one of the points I keep revisiting about COVID-19 vaccination is that we (or ‘we’) are acting as if ninety percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, when, in fact, we’re not even close to that … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, COVID-19 | 4 Comments

Policing, Police States, and a Failure of Governance

Posted on June 4, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

What has been made clear over the last couple of weeks is that, in many cities, there has been a complete loss of control by ‘civilian’ authorities over local security forces. I put ‘civilian’ in quotes because the police are … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Resistance Rebellion And Death | 3 Comments

Camps for the Homeless and the Political Consequences of Failed Governance

Posted on September 12, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Recently, Trump has tried to make homelessness in cities a political issue. Of course, being Trump, his solution is horrible, as it involves shipping the homeless to camps–and this has gone beyond the bullshitting stage, with officials touring unused federal … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conservatives, Democrats, Fucking Morons, Homelessness, Housing | 1 Comment

We Have Become a ‘Papers Please’ Society

Posted on July 23, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

For those of us who are not young, one of the operational definitions of freedom was not living in a ‘papers, please’ society–that is, you didn’t need to provide internal security officials documentation to travel freely if you were a … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Immigration | 3 Comments

The Only Way We’re Ever Going To Get Our Internal Security Forces Under Control Is…

Posted on August 31, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

…when we inflict them on native-born white people. Consider this episode in genteel ethnic cleansing (boldface mine): On paper, he’s a devoted U.S. citizen. His official American birth certificate shows he was delivered by a midwife in Brownsville, at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Racism | 5 Comments

Really Stupid Security Theater: The Audi Field Edition

Posted on August 22, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

As the Security Rachet (and racket) continues to needlessly tighten, we are reminded that many sports facilities now require women to use see-through clear plastic purses or bags–what one reader has referred to as “HI, I’M MENSTRUATING!” purses (think about … Continue reading →

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Maybe The TSA Was Always Security Theater

Posted on August 7, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

In the midst of the caterwauling freak show that is the Trump administration, sometimes the smaller policy proposals get lost in the shuffle. But this seems interesting (boldface mine): Security checkpoints would be eliminated at more than 150 smaller U.S. … Continue reading →

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Occasionally, Jury Nullification Works Out For The Better

Posted on July 31, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

Jury nullification, where a jury decides to find someone innocent of a crime even though it is obvious to everyone including the jurors, has an odious history in the U.S., since it was overwhelmingly used to set free people who … Continue reading →

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Security Theater At The National Zoological Park

Posted on July 9, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

While it’s usually referred to as the National Zoo, it has been an open-to-the-public park for years. But never fear, the security hyperventilators are here! (boldface mine) Any good zoo has lots of fencing and cages to keep animals in. … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, DC | 1 Comment

The Problem With Elected District Attorneys

Posted on April 15, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

While Philadelphia appears to have elected itself an excellent district attorney, I can’t help but think this should be an appointed position (and I usually oppose appointed positions). Why? Well, as this post lays out, some of them are awful, … Continue reading →

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