URLs du Jour

2018-04-18

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  • I am not sure of the best way to read Proverbs 14:32:

    32 When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,
        but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.

    Turning to other translations doesn't help much.

    The "Message" translation favored for those who like their translations not to be accurate translations: "The evil of bad people leaves them out in the cold; the integrity of good people creates a safe place for living." Ssh, there's no need to mention that death thing!


  • David French at NR reports: California Progressives Launch (Another) Attack on Free Speech. What, again? It is spurred by a Jonathan Chait article that wonders why more Republicans, justly disgusted with their party, don't become Democrats.

    It’s interesting, for example, that Chait makes the argument just as the California State Assembly is set to vote on a bill that would actually — among other things — ban the sale of books expressing orthodox Christian beliefs about sexual morality.

    Such beliefs are heresy against the new secular religion whirling around issues of sex and "gender expression". And heresy cannot be allowed.


  • At Reason, J.D. Tuccille notes the asymmetric concern about disclosure of "sensitive information": Facebook’s Use of Data May Annoy You, But IRS Handling of Your Sensitive Information Is Truly Chilling.

    As we argue over the propriety of Facebook hoovering up personal (but not especially sensitive) information that users voluntarily gave to the social media company, it's a good time to remember that many of us are right now surrendering delicate details of our life to an even less trustworthy entity—the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)—and we have no choice.

    Using a feature of Facebook that was abandoned in 2015, third-party apps were, for several years, able to compile fairly detailed profiles on users who installed them. Among other destinations, the information made it to political campaigns for use in targeted electioneering (variously characterized as innovative when the Obama campaign bragged about its tech savvy, and nefarious when it benefited Trump). This info-siphoning struck many people as creepy as hell (almost certainly why Facebook killed the feature three years ago), but it was based on freely surrendered data through a service that nobody was compelled to use. Anybody uncomfortable with Facebook's policies can just close their account (or creatively populate it with bogus info).

    J. D. alludes to something we've mentioned in the past: you have no obligation to tell the truth when answering nosy questions from social media sites.

    In fact, when you're asked to provide answers to "security questions" to "protect your account", it's far more secure to lie your ass off.


  • Dave Barry shares his sweet memories of the late Harry Anderson. Harry played a fictionalized version of Dave on TV, "Dave's World".


Last Modified 2024-01-25 10:01 AM EDT