A Friendly Letter

The Great Carolina HB2 Bathroom Bill “Repeal” Ripoff

As the actual import of Berger’s bill sank in, the optimistic aura generated by the blizzard of media buildup dissipated like the frost on my car window as that morning’s sun came up.

The small band of Democratic senators, mostly black, blew the whistle: this was not “repeal” at all, they pointed out. It merely changed the form of the ban, then extended it for six months, and came with an additional warning that localities must still abide by the ban afterward or risk its revival.

Senator Jeff Jackson of Charlotte put it bluntly and angrily: “This breaks the deal!” he shouted.

Standing Rock, TigerSwan & the Dawn of Officially Occupied America

Now, one more point: not only is TigerSwan equipped technically to surveil the Standing Rock protectors from many directions at once, and able to “dispatch” enforcers on short notice. They are also invested with the ethos of the Special Forces from which they sprang, that they are the “good guys,” preparing to “liberate the oppressed.”

And who, in their calculus, are the “oppressed”? Who else but the ones paying them. And the “oppressors”? Of course, at standing Rock it was the interlopers in the tents who called themselves “protectors.”

Thus, while the North Dakota landscape may not have much in the way of evergreen forests, still from the TigerSwan perspective, it is “Pineland” all over again.

Moreover, not so far behind the DAPL and this point of confrontation, there is a whole new administration about to arrive, which regards virtually all such protests as oppressive, and overdue for their turn to be overthrown.

Catching Up With The Saga of TigerSwan, Standing Rock & My Blog

One of the points of the blog post, which I hope will not be lost in the euphoria after the Standing Rock victory, is that TigerSwan exemplifies a state-of-the-art approach to technological control and suppression of organized dissent which has been taking form and growing under the radar over the past fifteen years. (Some details are in the disappeared post.)

It is one I believe we will see more of. And one which will get, I strongly expect, much more support from the new occupant of the White House than the current one.

Can Thee Pass The Old Quaker Test??

Can Thee See This?? If so, Then the Old Quaker & His Blog Are BACK. But to make sure– Please let me know if thee can see this. Thank Thee!

Why My Knees Were Knocking That Morning

I finally went to a physical therapist, who gave me some stretching exercises to do. I did them just before the election, and afterward, voila! –both knees hurt. A miracle of modern medicine.
As the election results sank in, my knees hurt worse. By the weekend, a friend had lent me a cane, and some pain pills.
Anyway, the aches come and go. Eerily enough, talking about the impact of the election really bothers them. Like it did when I asked Mansoor the Big Question today.

Mansoor has a shop in the Durham area, and has helped me with some of my gadgets. Right now he was preparing to do heart surgery on my desktop. And as in life, so in tech (or is it now vice versa?): I’m not as worried about the desktop’s survival, as I am about the bill.

I first brought it in, a couple days before the election, just before I had to leave town for a few days. We scrolled across files as if they were MRI images, looking for blocked electronic arteries. In this procedure, up popped my blog post about the 1920s Ku Klux Klan, showing how its agenda and spirit, minus only the robes, had pervaded much of the 2016 election campaign.

I pointed it out and slowed the mouse. Mansoor’s expression was impassive, but I could tell he was interested.