By Nathan Barton

Are they nuts?  Yep!  Sovereign Man tells us that Australia is “eliminating” passports: physical passports – they gonna move them into the cloud.  As the article says, a gigantic sign will say “hackers, get your data here!.”  Excellent tirade about the evils of passports and “papers, please.” Politicians gone to seed: insanity is catching.

Are THESE folks nuts?  No, but Congress is gonna think so, and the lobbyists and donors are going into overtime and burning out their checkbooks (or do donors use plastic cards now?):  Popular Science reports the nazgul ruling that says that automotive software is NOT – get that NOT – covered by copyright and that paragon of evil, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. So we are free (until Congress messes in the pool) to tweak the software that makes our cars (well, all of them but that 1985 Dodge Dakota) run. Hurry, folks; Congress is going to get flooded with money and change this to make it (again) illegal to use anything but a “certified” mechanic to work on your vehicle.

Mama’s Note: I have no intention of messing with the “chip” in my car, a 2001 Saturn. The routine maintenance is done by my local shade tree mechanic. I’ve never had a mechanical problem or with the chip. Guess the little computer is so dumb it just does its job – which is amazing considering the climate here, and the endless clay dust that creeps into everything. I must have gotten a good one.

These folks are going nuts. World Net Daily reports that thousands, even tens of thousands, of “refugees” are vanishing from shelters and camps in Germany.  Nothing is said about the clouds of greasy smoke hanging over some of the towns or the shortage of the traditional 11-hole shower heads in nearby hardware and building supply stores. (Sarc warning) Seriously, these “migrants” and “refugees” are disappearing somewhere: perhaps to assembly points for further expansion of the toehold that they have in Europe. Meanwhile, it appears that many Europeans are scrambling to find weapons to defend themselves and their families and properties and communities from these invaders, which after all, just reflect their places of origin.

We KNOW that the Middle East is FILLED with nuts. Events this week remind us of that fact. Mama Liberty writes: “We live in a very interesting time (Chinese curse variety) and it may just have gotten even worse. Did the Russians have any incentive to cause this crash… to reduce the “qualms” about the campaign in Syria? Did ISIS plant a bomb on the aircraft, since it was flying too high for any missile they have (or they are believed to have? We’ll probably never know for sure. Just remember how many times Bin Laden was “killed.” Which version works for you?” She is commenting on Lew Rockwell’s column “ISIS Releases Video Of Alleged Russian Airplane Mid-Air Explosion After It Claims Responsibility For Disaster.” They write: “The question now is did ISIS use a US-made surface-to-air missile to start what may be a very unpleasant war. Also, does Russia get a carte blanche to begin attacks on ISIS in Egypt now, the same Egypt which recently “purchased” the two Mistral ships made by France, which were meant to be bought by Russia in a deal that was scrapped in the last minute due to NATO intervention? One thing is clear: if the Russian population had any qualms about continuing the campaign in Syria, they were just eliminated in perpetuity. We now await the Russian response, against both ISIS and its direct and indirect sponsors.”

The commentary is, of course (a typical trouble), overtaken by events and outdated. Latest is that the Russian Air Ministry says that it appears to be a mechanical problem.

Mama’s Note: Latest from Fox “news” is that the co-pilot even knew the craft was not airworthy! I can’t imagine why he’d then take off in it. Will we ever know the truth? Don’t hold your breath.

It would appear that if Russia wanted to officially go to war with the US, DC’s very stupid announcement that 50 special ops troops are entering Syria to aid “Kurds and Arabs” to fight against ISIL (See Information Clearinghouse) would be more than enough.  After all Syria and Russia are formally allies.  But it does not appear that Assad is willing to declare war against DC.

Well, she IS nuts, but is that a crime?  Who is she hurting? Fox News says that police report a woman stripped, poured ketchup on herself at restaurant. Mama Liberty asks: “I wonder what she was thinking… or drinking. This sort of behavior is pathetic, but there is no rational reason for treating it as a crime. Same for “drunk in public” and quite a few other things. They’re not harming anyone else.”

Nathan: Seems like the private business banning her from eating there again would be enough, but of course, THAT would be discrimination by a place of “public accommodation,” and THEY would get punished for it. The excuse for this being a crime and arresting her for “public indecency” is that “she is scaring people” (people probably being defined as “customers”) and scarring children for life. Which we know isn’t true.  I suspect that SF’s recent experiences with widescale public nudity on a daily basis (as contrasted to “World’s Nude Bike Rides” and “Bay-to-Breakers” nude races, or going bare on Ocean Beach or Baker Beach or a meadow in Golden Gate Park) will encourage many local jurisdictions to get even more hyper about it.  First, there is the seemingly inevitable escalation: from public nudity to public sex (and often of the most extreme sort), which people understandably get upset about and scream “something must be done,” and the politicians are pandering and “do something.  Second is that public nudity in SF seems to lead to things like leaving unsanitary deposits on bus seats and benches and other places, and unhygenic practices like peeing and taking a dump whereever; too many of these people confuse downtown San Francisco with the EPA offices in Denver.

Mama’s Note: The unsanitary conditions are, of course, a threat to others – but the problem is, as usual, the refusal on any side to accept personal responsibility for one’s actions, not the nudity itself. Anyway, I still want to know how the lady could “cover herself” in ketchup from those little bitty packets, or even a squeeze bottle on the table. She must have had some help. 🙂 And I hope they all can get some help. SF was a nutso place when I visited there 45 years ago. Seems it’s only getting worse.

Is the madness spreading? Could be (Thanks to Scott for this one (as well as the one on the US invsion of Syria). “Have You Noticed People Around You Are Changing?” Asks All News Pipeline. They tell us, “There Is A Reason…” that people are changing, becoming more violent, angered at the smallest things and acting in a manner that is not consistent with their normal personalities. This reason, we are told, is due to drugs we are being given secretly. Really? I suppose it is possible. But… I don’t suppose just normal frustration with the increasingly complex daily life and having everyone minding OUR business might have ANYthing at all to do with this.

Mama’s Note: It seems to be happening in some parts of the country, at least among some city folks, but drugs would only be a tiny part of it – and they are not being given “secretly.” Increasing stress from economic chaos, and all of the cognitive dissonance as the welfare state implodes… these have far more to do with the growing unrest. Out here in the wilds of Wyoming, people seem pretty much the same as always, except that a great many I talk to no longer trust even the Republicans. I consider that a marvelous thing.

It really seems to be mad to do this confrontation and games of chicken in the Spratlys, especially given all the other wars and conflicts. Reuters  reports that China’s Navy chief is warning the USN not to do anything dangerous, as a simple and single mistake could lead to war. Of course, it could be that some people WANT war. China has built a series of artificial islands and is now claiming sovereignty over everything within 12 miles of them, even though they lie within the internationally-recognized 200-mile “exclusive economic zone” of the Philippines. At issue is oil and gas reserves which could rival that of the North Sea or the Gulf of Mexico. And whether or not we can keep from starting yet ANOTHER war. Madness indeed.