Month: July 2016

That Other Hillary Clinton Email Scandal (Notes On Information Warfare)

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The Republican National Convention was raucous, strident, kooky, and simply unhinged to such as extent that this week’s Democratic National Convention should have been at least an easy lay-up, if not a slam-dunk.

Instead, the Democrats’ big party got off on a significantly dissonant note—the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the wake of WikiLeaks releasing 19,000+ of The Democratic National Committee’s emails.

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When In Doubt, More Cowbell

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1. Baby It’s Cold Outside

Punch “more cowbell” into The Urban Dictionary. and you’ll get:

1. Something everything needs more of.
2. A remedy.

And then you’ll come across the immortal words of The Bruce Dickinson:

I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!

The reference is from one of the great SNL skits, a parody of the recording session of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper”:

In the skit, [Will ]Farrell portrayed a member of the [70s] rock band Blue Oyster Cult as they recorded their classic hit “Don’t Fear the Reaper” in the studio. Farrell played the cowbell quite forcefully on that track, much to the dismay of the rest of the band. Yet surprisingly, the studio producer loved Farrell’s cowbell playing, and demanded:

“That was brilliant, man, the track needs more cowbell!”

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The (De)X Files 07/12/16: Bitcoin = Energy, Encrypted Facebook, Son Of Bin Laden, The Italian Job, Elites In Retreat …

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The (De)X Files is my weekly aggregate of a few stories, essays, articles, an academic paper here and there, and (ugh) “think pieces” (only the awesome ones) from as wide a net as I can cast across the web. (The net is exceptionally wide, thanks to Inoreader.)

My selections are of the important, the surprising, the troubling, the enlightening, the inspiring, the amusing, the sublime, and the offending, along with some commentary, analysis, speculation, and prediction.

On tap: Bitcoin = energy; encrypted Facebook; Son of Bin Laden; the Italian job; elites in retreat …

Continue reading “The (De)X Files 07/12/16: Bitcoin = Energy, Encrypted Facebook, Son Of Bin Laden, The Italian Job, Elites In Retreat …” →

Don’t Mess With The RBG!

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#DonaldTrump is 70 years old and can’t hold a consistent policy position from one day to the next. Who’s mind is really shot?

‘Her mind is shot’: Donald Trump-Ruth Bader Ginsburg feud goes nuclear

Updated Wednesday: Trump is again escalating the rhetoric, questioning the 83-year-old justice’s mental capacity in a tweet in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot – resign! – Donald J.

@dexterkflowers

The Day My Favorite Band Got All Shook Down

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RE: “Replacements: The Breakup That Shook Grant Park” | Chicago Tribune

4th of July 2016 is special. It’s is the 25th anniversary of the breakup of The Replacements.

These were regular guys who figured out that American punk—which, like America disco, was among the first music of the post-industrial era—could not burn so brightly for very long.

So they focused their otherwise broken lives and prodigious talent on what would come next.

Continue reading “The Day My Favorite Band Got All Shook Down” →

The (De)X Files 07/07/16: Mapping The Dark Web, Weaponized A.I., & Digital Bank Heists

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The (De)X Files is my (sorta) daily aggregate of a few stories, essays, articles, an academic paper here and there, and (ugh) “think pieces” (only the awesome ones) from as wide a net as I can cast across the web. (The net is exceptionally wide, thanks to Inoreader.)

My selections are of the important, the surprising, the troubling, the enlightening, the inspiring, the amusing, the sublime, and the offending, along with some commentary, analysis, speculation, and prediction.

Have a story to discuss? Tweet it to me at @thinkdeadly or email it to thinkdeadly1911@gmail.com.

On tap: mapping the dark web, those “damn emails,” weaponized A.I., Chilcot, digital bank heists, Arthur Ashe, China’s innovation economy, and fighting extremism …

Continue reading “The (De)X Files 07/07/16: Mapping The Dark Web, Weaponized A.I., & Digital Bank Heists” →