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War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose 50 years of government spin and media collusion that has dragged our country into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. With remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, the documentary exposes how presidential administrations of both parties have relied on a combination of deception and media complicity to sell one war after another to the American people.

Giving special attention to parallels between Vietnam and Iraq, War Made Easy sets government spin and media collusion from the present alongside virtually identical patterns from the past, guided by Solomon’s meticulous research and tough-minded analysis. Rare footage of political leaders and journalists from the past includes Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and news correspondents Walter Cronkite and Morley Safer.

German Stock Market during Wiemar Republic Hyperinflation

S&P 500 Adjusted Against Dollar-Index

My cousin Aaron and I have recently started exchanging some unfettered thoughts, which I’ve very much enjoyed. I’m thrilled that I lucked out with regard to the family I have, both immediate and extended. Without them, I would have had no chance… no values, no foundation, nobody to look up to, etc… My parents and grandparents set one hell of an example, and I pity most of my generation for not having been so lucky.

Anyway, something Aaron said in his last message prompted me to do a little searching, and I rediscovered two great links on Mises’s website. One of the two links is Doug French’s review of the book, The Case Against Adolescence, which I’ve blatantly lifted below:

In his book, Democracy: The God that Failed, Hans Hoppe argues that democracy and government have made people less farsighted and not as concerned with providing for ever-more-distant goals. Thus, society is tending toward decivilization. As Hoppe describes, adults are being turned into children. Children have very high time preferences, living “day to day and from one immediate gratification to the next,” Hoppe explains. American society has essentially lengthened childhood by creating adolescence.

In a very provocative new book, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen, psychologist Robert Epstein contends that when mammals reach puberty, they function as adults — except in America that is. Starting a hundred years ago, Americans gradually increased the age of adulthood to what many Americans now believe to be 26. You’ve heard, “30 is the new 20,” and “50 is the new 30.” Soon we will all be kids again.

Epstein argues effectively that American culture collaborates in artificially extending childhood through public schooling and labor laws. In most of human history, young people worked side by side with adults from their early teens with young women becoming wives and mothers. Early on, he fingers the labor unions as the culprits behind child labor laws. In 1881, the forerunner to the AFL-CIO made child labor a high priority: “We are in favor of the passage of laws in the several states forbidding the employment of children under fourteen in any capacity, under penalty of fine and imprisonment.”

Of course, unions didn’t want the competition from young workers who are likely smarter and more productive than older workers. Work by David Wechsler and J.C. Raven indicates that our highest mental age is in our midteens. According to Raven, “Apparently by the age of fourteen, a child’s trainability has reached its maximum, while after the age of thirty, a person’s ability to understand a new method of thinking, adopt new methods of working, and even to adapt a new environment, steadily decreases.”

Of course today’s teens don’t act like they have the most brainpower in society. How could they? They are isolated in government schools away from adults and given no responsibilities — they are infantilized. Infantilized by the many laws restricting young people: curfew laws, tougher driving laws, teen-wage laws, laws curtailing sexual activities, free-speech restrictions at school, censorship of educational activities, dress codes, smoking and drinking laws, ad infinitum.

But government and unions are not the only teen enemies. The author makes the case (sometimes effectively, sometimes not) that everyone works against teens being adults. The media portray teens as self-absorbed; business makes big bucks promoting teen culture; and even parents underestimate their teens’ abilities.

Epstein’s book is chock-full of examples of young people in history who have made tremendous contributions. Louis Braille, if he were a blind kid today, would be cooped up in special-needs classes. Fortunately, he lived in the early 1800s and had perfected the Braille system by the time he was 15 years old. Samuel Colt invented the multiround, revolving-head pistol when he was 16. Edgar Allen Poe had his first book published at 18, including poems he had written at age 12 and 13.

The fact is, creativity is at its peak in early childhood and the teen years. But as we enter adulthood, we learn to conform, which takes a toll on creativity. Public schooling was created to mold young people into compliant citizens, sapping their creativity. Teen ingenuity remains high, but given the need to rebel, lack of adult companionship, and laws prohibiting the signing of contracts, their creativity is rarely channeled into positive pursuits.

In a test for “adultness” cocreated by the author, the difference between how adults and how teens scored was statistically insignificant: “Age is simply not a reliable measure of adultness,” Epstein writes, “at least not once people are past puberty.”

So what should we do about all of this? Obviously abolishing the myriad of laws restricting teens would be a good first start. But, unfortunately, Epstein believes young (and old) people should be given rights only if they can pass competency tests. And one gets the feeling that government would be doing the administering of these tests — as if government bureaucrats should be trusted with the job.

As well done and interesting as Epstein’s book is, he doesn’t go far enough. As Murray Rothbard wrote in The Ethics of Liberty, a child has rights “when he leaves or ‘runs away’ from home.” Forget the tests; just set kids free.

See also: Education: Free and Compulsory, by Murray Rothbard

So, here it goes:

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Hash: SHA1

* I, Christopher Lee Brunner, a resident of Birmingham, Alabama,
being of sound and disposing mind and memory and over the age of
eighteen (18) years, and not being actuated by any duress, menace,
fraud, mistake, or undue influence, do make, publish, and declare this
to be my last Will, hereby expressly revoking all Wills and Codicils
previously made by me.
* I appoint Saba Dovlatabadi as Executor of this my Last Will and
Testament and provide if this Executor is unable or unwilling to serve
then I appoint Frederick Lee Brunner as alternate Executor. If this
Executor is unable or unwilling to serve then I appoint Marjorie Hoffman
Brunner. If this Executor is unable or unwilling to serve then I appoint
Shannon Nicole Brunner. My Executor shall be authorized to carry out all
provisions of this Will and pay my just debts, obligations and funeral
expenses.
* Except where overridden by properly executed partnership and
operating agreements, I hereby bequeath all dividends, profit
distributions, and any other compensation resulting from the ownership
interest of any legal entity during the period of eighteen (18) months
after my death to my immediate family and charitable organization in the
following proportions: Ninety (90) percent of said monies shall be
distributed to Frederick Lee Brunner and Marjorie Hoffman Brunner, or
Shannon Nicole Brunner if Shannon Nicole Brunner survives both Frederick
Lee Brunner and Marjorie Hoffman Brunner. The remaining ten (10) percent
of said monies shall be distributed to the Ludwig von Mises Institute in
Auburn, Alabama.
* Once a period of eighteen (18) months has elapsed after my death,
all ownership interest shall be either liquidated or gifted to the
affected business partners in proportion to vested ownership of the each
affected business, at the discretion of the affected business partners.
Should the affected business partners elect to liquidate said ownership
interest, the resulting monies shall be bequeathed to my immediate
family and charitable organization in the same manner as outlined in the
prior clause.
* Ownership and resulting benefits of all promissory notes for which
the aggregate outstanding balance, per debtor, is greater than or equal
to ten thousand (10,000) dollars at the time of my death shall be
assigned to Saba Dovlatabadi for collection under the condition that
seventy-five (75) percent of the resulting monies are distributed to my
immediate family and charitable organization in the same manner that is
outlined above. The interest of said promissory notes may be waived at
the sole discretion of Saba Dovlatabadi, if Saba Dovlatabadi is willing
to meet this condition. If Saba Dovlatabadi is unable or unwilling to
collect the benefits owed to me or the trust established by this Will,
then one hundred percent of the ownership and resulting benefits shall
be assigned to Frederick Lee Brunner and Marjorie Hoffman Brunner, or
Shannon Nicole Brunner if Shannon Nicole Brunner survives both Frederick
Lee Brunner and Marjorie Hoffman Brunner.
* If a named beneficiary to this Will predeceases me, the bequest to
such person shall lapse, and the property shall pass under the other
provisions of this Will.
* If I do not possess or own any property listed above on the date
of my death, the bequest of that property shall lapse.
* I give, devise, and bequeath ninety (90) percent of the rest,
residue, and remainder of my estate, of whatever kind and character, and
wherever located, to Frederick Lee Brunner and Marjorie Hoffman Brunner,
or Shannon Nicole Brunner if Shannon Nicole Brunner survives both
Frederick Lee Brunner and Marjorie Hoffman Brunner. I request that the
remaining ten (10) percent of the rest, residue, and remainder of my
estate, of whatever kind and character, and wherever located, be
liquidated and given to, devised, and bequeathed to the Ludwig von Mises
Institute in Auburn, Alabama.
* If none of my named beneficiaries survives me, then the rest and
residue of my estate shall pass according to the order of intestate
succession in the State of Alabama.
* My Executor and alternate Executor shall serve without any bond,
and I hereby waive the necessity of preparing or filing any inventory,
accounting, appraisal, reporting, approvals or final appraisement of my
estate. I direct that no expert appraisal be made of my estate unless
required by law.
* The term ?testator? as used in this Will is deemed to include me
as Testator or Testatrix. The pronouns used in this Will shall include,
where appropriate, either gender or both, singular and plural.
* If any part of this Will is declared invalid, illegal, or
inoperative for any reason, it is my intent that the remaining parts
shall be effective and fully operative, and that any Court so
interpreting this Will and any provision in it construe in favor of
survival.
* I, Christopher Lee Brunner, hereby set my hand to this last Will,
on this 17th day of June, 2011 at 2222 2nd Avenue North, Suite 305,
Birmingham, State of Alabama.
* My secure cryptographic signature, which follows, shall serve as
undeniable, mathematical proof that I am the author of the foregoing
instrument, and that this instrument could not have been altered
retroactively.
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Well, let me tell you, it’s not pretty. Virtually any time you use your card — regardless of whether it’s a credit card or a debit card that you’re using like a credit card — the merchant gets hit with a substantial fee. There is usually a fee made up of a flat, per transaction fee on the order of $.25 to $35, plus a portion of the transaction, which can be as high as 7% in some cases. (Usually it’s closer to one or two percent, however.)

It’s extremely unlikely that Obama’s campaign is not subject to these fees. So, if someone were to, for example, visit Obama’s donation page, and make a “donation” of one cent, it would actually cost the Obama campaign something like twenty-five cents.

According to their website, each individual is allowed to donate a total of $5,000 per election cycle. (That’s $2,500 for the primary, and $2,500 for the general election.) So, for example, if one were to write a script that “donates” $5,000, one cent at a time, it would result in a net loss of $125,000 for the Obama campaign.

I haven’t done it… I’m just sayin’…

The Android app must have the same functionality as the latest version of gjots for Linux.

I was recently looking for a way to watch certain video podcasts on my TV. For the life of me, I couldn’t find a hardware set-top-box that will just play video podcasts on my television.

It seems like such a simple concept, right? It’s just a matter of checking an RSS feed, downloading a video, and playing it. Miro, and several other podcast players, can do it just fine. Why aren’t there any set top boxes out there that are capable of such a seemingly-easy task? I searched high and low to no avail.

That is, until I learned that the new versions of TiVo support video podcasts. It was on. I immediately went out an bought two — one for my living room, and one for my bedroom. (Video podcast support wasn’t the only reason, read on.) They were less than $100 each from Best Buy!

So, as with anything in life, there are advantages and disadvantages to using a TiVo in lieu of your cable-company-supplied set top box. Some of them are:

Con’s
– Monthly service fee ($10 to $20/mo depending on your luck)
– Requires a CableCARD from the cable company (almost free, no big deal)
– TiVo doesn’t support the cable company’s On Demand service (again, no big deal. Keep reading.)

Pro’s
– Video podcast support
– Multi-room (record in one room, watch in another)
– Built-in Netflix On Demand
– Built-in Blockbuster On Demand
– Built-in Amazon On Demand
– Much better High Definition user interface
– Much better, and unified search logic

Regarding the unified search logic, let me give you an example. My parents are in town from Raleigh, NC for Christmas. My father watches It’s a Wonderful Life every single year. Even though I have almost all of the premium options from my cable company, it wasn’t available from them. However, once I hooked up my TiVo, I found that it was available from Amazon On Demand. TiVo’s search includes all of the internet-based options, in addition to what’s available on TV. So, a few remote-control clicks later, we were watching.

There are lots of features I haven’t played with yet, but I very much like what I’ve seen so far. I will add an update once I’ve had a chance to test everything out.

Two features I wish TiVo had:
– DLNA support for NAS devices on my LAN, like my Samsung Blu-Ray players have (or at least Linux support for this feature)
– Flickr support — Picasa and Photobucket but no Flickr? Very lame.

I’ll add the related links and resources I’ve found when I come back to update this post after I’ve had a chance to test everything. More coming soon…

It should be pretty simple for an experienced PHP programmer. I initially wrote a function that scrapes Scroogle, but they ban IPs after 100 queries, and I’d like to cut to the source since the function has to be rewritten anyway.

Project requirements:
– Create a PHP function that receives $search_term, scrapes Google, and returns the resulting hostnames as an array. If there are zero results, the function should return FALSE.
– The function must be usable for at least 5,000 queries per day. Something more like 20,000 would be ideal, of course.
– This is not a requirement, but in order to be able to do 5,000 queries per day, it may need to support proxies. See the links below.

Resources:
– This is the function that I wrote, that you will be replacing. It’s perfectly functional, but isn’t usable in the long-term due to Scroogle’s IP banning.
– This page outlines what you’re up against, and offers some solutions.
– Another example PHP snippet.
– Yes another example of working PHP code that scrapes Google.
– It has been suggested (but I have Not confirmed) that it’s easier to scrape Google while passing accessibility flags: http://labs.google.com/accessible/

Initial bounty offer: $250. Let me know if you want to bid higher.

Contact me if you’re interested. Good luck!

Objective

• Create an application for Linux that searches an IMAP account for large attachments, and allows users to pick attachments to be downloaded and deleted from their IMAP account.

Functionality

1. Prompt user for IMAP login credentials.
2. Search IMAP account for attachments.
3. Present a list of attachments to the user, in descending order of file size (largest to smallest).
4. For each item in the list, give user the option to download the attachment and delete it from the IMAP account (or to delete the attachment without downloading it).

Additional Requirements

• Application must be made available, free of charge, to the public as open source software.

If you’re interested, simply post a comment to let myself and others know that you’ve started working. When you’re done, contact me and I will immediately send you the money.

(Inspired by IMAPsize, which is Windows-only and close-source.)

See http://bounties.chrisbrunner.com/ for more bounties!

That day has come, and for this just purpose, I’ve created a new “Bounties” section of my blog.

My posted bounties will always be reachable at: http://bounties.chrisbrunner.com/

Here’s how it works:

1. I have an idea for a piece of software, or if I find an annoying bug that I know affects others.

2. Rather than waiting around, and doing nothing to improve the situation, I will create a bounty. Bounties will be posted in this new category, and I will probably also tweet them.

For example, I may post something like, “$200 to the first person who can fix this bug,” along with a link to the bug report.

3. If you see a bounty that you would like to take on, post a comment to let myself and others know that you’ve started working on it.

4. Once the piece of code, application, or bug fix is complete, I will immediately send you the money and announce in my post that the bounty has been awarded to you.

Watch bounties.chrisbrunner.com closely or subscribe to my Bounty RSS feed for the first bounty! Good luck!

With that said, it’s often nice to get views of what’s going on in the world that aren’t directly influenced by the US government.

For that, there is Livestation.

It free, and it’s cross-platform. So, it works just fine on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Livestation carries the following channels (among others), each which offer a new take on world events:

• Al Jazeera English
• RT
• Press TV
• BBC World Service
• France 24
• CNN International

It’s worth checking out. You should go download it.

For the sake of context, Encyclopedia Dramatica is, without question, one of the top five least-sane websites on the Internet, in terms of its content. Figuring out exactly what it is, and why, is an exercise that I will leave to you.

Anyway, this is the blog post I found. It’s by Joseph Evers, the founder of ED.

For those unaware, Encyclopedia Dramatica has been in a lot of trouble in Australia lately. First ED was placed on the ACMA blacklist, a “secret” list of websites to be censored throughout Australia in their upcoming internet filter. After this list was leaked to the public, we all laughed about how we were put on a blacklist with “Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions, Christian sites, and even the websites of a tour operator and a Queensland dentist“. Meanwhile, Australia Communications Minister Stephen Conroy called for the arrests of Australians publishing the list.

So here’s the deal. This is an initial investigation into charging me, personally, with the violation of Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act. While I act in complete compliance with both the civil and criminal codes of the United States of America, and am assured the right of free speech according to our Constitution (which, if not the greatest political document in the entire history of law, is certainly on the top five) I can personally be jailed and fined for the violation of this law. Check out the court precedent they cite, Dow Jones & Co Inc v Gutnick, where a United States paper had to pay 580k for publishing an article about a globalized company headquartered in Australia and its CEO whilst completely in compliance with United States civil precedence. This isn’t a far-fetched legal theory, they have used it before. Welcome to the one world government, folks. Is this what you wanted? Is this what you had in mind? Cause this is what you’re gettin’.

Encyclopedia Dramatica will never be censored in any way. We will keep publishing this content and our Australian users will be able to view it up until the point that your God-forsaken government blocks it with their soon-to-be-implemented secret list of banned material. ACMA’s child pornography blacklist is only one half child pornography. The rest is religious and political speech. You really want Soviet-style communism as your future? I know some people that had to escape from the GDR. Many of your children will be in that position. The house of cards is about to come down, and they’re making sure your mouths are taped shut first. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

My counsel has advised me that I can never under any circumstances visit my family in Sydney again, nor otherwise make any appearances on Australian soil. Here’s to the hidden cost of freedom.

Scary. I’ve only been to ED a few times in my life, but their content has nothing to do with the issue at hand. I applaud Joseph for refusing to censor his wiki site, and I find this trend of global cooperation among pro-censorship bureaucracies incredibly chilling.

Symptoms:
– If you manage to get your external display working at all, it matches your laptop’s internal display resolution

Solution:
1. Upgrade your BIOS
2. In your new BIOS settings, change it to always use Discrete Graphics
3. Boot back into Ubuntu
4. Run nvidia-xconfig (assuming you’ve already installed the proprietary drivers)
5. Reboot

That’s it. Should work fine now.

As simple as it sounds, that took almost all day to figure out. Good luck.

After you do this, you may discover that your external display goes blank when you shut your laptop lid. The solution can be found in this thread on the Ubuntu forums.

There is an easy way to do this.

Simply drag this link into your bookmark toolbar:
Gmail Compose

Credit goes to hackaddict.net.

And, I happen to be teaching myself how to keep books right now.

This is a table of how credits and debits impact your accounts…

Gmail doesn’t support this natively, but a Firefox addon called Boomerang adds the functionality.

UPDATE: I’m not sure how long this will last, but here’s a direct download link so that you don’t have to wait for an invite code. Click here for Firefox and here for Chrome.

It does a lot of different things, but a big part of what makes it useful for me is that it allows you to mount any of your cloud storage services as a local part of your OS — even if you’re using Linux or OS X. That’s really, really useful.

In addition, there are mobile clients for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry.

You really need to see this.

TinyXP is XP with all of the wasteful crap stripped out.

For details, see this blog post.

To download, go here or here, depending on what you want.

To make new Firefox tabs open on the right, instead of the left, follow these instructions:
http://lifehacker.com/5456366/make-new-tabs-open-at-far-right-in-firefox-36

I forget how I installed, Flash, but you’ll probably want to do that, too. Feel free to leave a comment.

If you find this interesting, check out this LRC article by John Gatto.