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The 5th Republican debate is underway, and most of the candidates that can remember what encryption is appear to be "against" it. Rewatch the first hour for some truly chilling comments. Only Ted Cruz or Rand Paul appear to deviate from the party line on security, and not that much in the case of Cruz.

Undermining these peoples' fantasies and law enforcement in general should be a top priority for our community.

In former (?) actor Shia LaBeouf's latest performance art stunt, he will be taking calls at a mini call center:

The Hollywood star has set up his own call centre in the city's Fact gallery, where he and his two artistic collaborators will field calls.

They will be at their desks between 11:00 and 18:00 GMT from Thursday to Sunday.

Those wishing to touch LaBeouf's soul can call the trio on 0151 808 0771.

Others can visit the gallery to see the event unfold in person, or can watch a live stream and see notes the trio are making on Touchmysoul.net.

Get in touch.

http://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw/34985536
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126915334@N03/ (higher resolution, watermarked)

From Obama's prime time speech:

This is our strategy to destroy ISIL. It is designed and supported by our military commanders and counterterrorism experts, together with 65 countries that have joined an American-led coalition. And we constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done.

That's why I've ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review the visa waiver program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that's why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.

It sounds like Obama may be taking a U-turn. The Second Crypto War isn't over yet.

Canadian Liquor Stores Want You to Be Able to Buy Weed with Your Six Pack

Liquor stores in British Columbia and Ontario want to start selling weed once it becomes legal in Canada.

The two unions representing BC's public and private liquor stores announced a partnership this week—the Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance of BC—through which they're advocating to sell recreational pot at retail locations by next Christmas.

Their logic seems to be that liquor stores already sell a controlled substance that gets people fucked up, so adding weed to their mix just makes sense.

"Just as with alcohol, there are legitimate concerns about access to marijuana by youths. Our stores are an over-19, age-controlled environment and our industry has demonstrated the strongest compliance with identification checks," said Stephanie Smith, president of the BC Government and Service Employees' Union, which represents the province's 200 public liquor stores.

It would also be cost effective. Because liquor stores already have a warehousing and retail system in place "there is no need to reinvent the wheel," she said.

Last month, Warren "Smokey" Thomas, head of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents LCBO employees, said LCBO outlets would be ideal weed retailers because they already have "social responsibility" covered.

"They do age checks, they do refusals if somebody's intoxicated."

[...]

So, Amazon ordered 9 episodes of Man in the High Castle on 2015-02-18 ... those episodes were released on 2015-11-20. That's 275 days for a season of this show to be produced, apparently, consisting of 9 episodes. 30 5/9 days per episode. That comes to 306 days for another 10 episodes. So if they announced a season 2 today, we might see another season on October 3 of next year.

Rats.

Lobbyists, in Strategy Session, Conclude That Refugee Crisis “Helps Us” Defeat Regulations

In an audio recording of a strategy session obtained by The Intercept, major trade association lobbyists discussed how the refugee crisis has changed the political dynamics in Washington to their advantage.

In the conference call held last week, lobbyists representing a number of high-polluting industries agreed that the battle between Congress and President Obama on refugee policy will give them the cover they need to attach a legislative rider to the omnibus budget bill that rolls back newly expanded clean water regulation.

“I think that probably helps us,” one participant said, referring to the coming confrontation over refugee policy.

[...] “We’re suddenly not the big issue,” said one call participant. “I mean, this is all going to turn on refugees.”

“I think that helps us,” said another call participant. “I think it helps us with the White House being on defense,” another legislative strategist on the call said.

The remarks were made during a political strategy call hosted last week by energy utility industry lobbyists. A recording was sent to The Intercept by someone on the call.

Coal CEO Thanks Lamar Smith, Asks Him to Expand Probe of Climate Scientists

Koch "Alliance" on Criminal Justice Reform Exposed as Trojan Horse

How the Gates Foundation Reflects the Good and the Bad of "Hacker Philanthropy"

Black Friday 2015

Laptops

• $99: 11.6 inch Chromebook, Best Buy
• $300: Core i3, 15.6 inch, Best Buy
• $140: Celeron, 15.6 inch, Best Buy

Storage

• $100: 4 TB Western Digital My Book external hard drive, Best Buy
• $100: 4 TB Toshiba Canvio external hard drive, Office Max and Office Depot
• $120: 5 TB Seagate external hard drive, Costco
• $120: 5 TB Toshiba Canvio external hard drive, Office Max and Office Depot
• $40: 1 TB Seagate portable hard drive, Staples
• $200: SanDisk Ultra II 2.5" SSD 960GB, Newegg

Consoles

• $300: Dell Home & Office Black Friday: Xbox One Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle Plus Fallout 4 & Extra Controller
• $300: Target Black Friday: 500GB Xbox One Console w/ Gears of War Digital Download Code + $60 Target Gift Card

Categories

• Blank Media (CDs, DVDs)
• USB Flash Drives
• Hard Drives

Articles

Best Laptops: Holiday 2015
Best SSDs: Holiday 2015

I'm watching my oldest son read The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander, second book in my favorite childhood book series. He's near the end of the book where things really get exciting and horrific, he seems amazingly absorbed, his eyes are wide, and he looks a bit horrified.

Unlike me, he's read the entire book in pretty much a day. Having trouble keeping up with the voracious book appetite around here, which is a great problem to have.

Over at the other place, when I get a link to a comment, the comment provides no context about the story other than the headline. Here, a link to a comment shows the story as well. Kudos to the guys who made all this work, from little things like that to big things like Unicode support. (And I'm sure bigger stuff than that, but I'm not really educated about it.)

If you haven't shown SN a little love financially maybe think about some of those little details that have been so nicely handled. They took time and work on somebody's part. The least the rest of us can do is help keep the lights on around here.