10 thoughts for December 17, 2013

1. Looks like the US government had been trying to undermine Edward Snowden by downplaying his true capabilities, creating their own narrative about who he was and what he did.  The media did itself no favors by buying into the BS that he was just a network administrator.
2. On the same topic, a federal judge has ruled against the government on those cellular meta data sweeps, which means of course, that the SCOTUS will have to take up the subject and we'll get to find out where the members of SCOTUS stand on privacy.
3. Which brings us to the contemporary issue of whether Edward Snowden should be given amnesty from prosecution.  As The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf asks, "What does it say about the Obama Administration, and the United States generally, that the architects of torture remain free, even though authorities have no legal discretion to absolve them, while Edward Snowden, who exposed various NSA surveillance practices, stands accused of being a traitor to the United States?"  I happen to agree wholeheartedly.
4. So, I watched Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, because there was this one 3D-printed prop that I knew about ahead of time, as I read about it on a design blog.  It turns out there was just one 3D-printed prop and it was worn near the end of the show.  I don't think 99.9% of the people there even realized that it was 3D printed.  I can't believe I had that video running in the background for nearly 45 minutes, for just 15 seconds of seeing a model sport a 3D-printed prop.
5. I am so honestly tired of Microsoft's "Honestly" ads.  Honestly, if someone keeps prefacing their comments with, "honestly", I honestly don't think they're being honest.  Honestly speaking, it makes me feel as if they're trying to plant dishonest propaganda.
6. Libertarians and conservatives continue to believe that massive inflation is around the corner...for the last five years, now.  But hey, even gold bugs are bailing out of gold -- the primary hedge against inflation aside from TIPS.
7. OMG, I love a good rivalry.  So long as it doesn't get violent, that is.  These days, it seems that people forget to keep their emotions in check.
8. Arizona Cardinals at 9 - 5 are looking pretty good with Carson Palmer.  Which brings me to the haters, and the talk about how Palmer was an interim solution.
9. This is premature, but suffice to say, it is not impossible to consider that the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Seahawks could both win championships in 2014.  The dots that connect the two: Paul Allen owns them.  
10. Pete Carroll.  I still remember defending his hire online in comment boards, back in 2000.  But then again, I also defended the belief that Lane Kiffin had the room to grow and learn on the job as USC head coach.  I still believe in Lane Kiffin's skills, though he may need much more time than I had anticipated, to mature and become a confident leader in full command and control of a team.  Nick Saban would probably agree.