mindhog

I'm a retired computer programmer who still writes code, musician, beer enthusiast, and father of 2.
I'm the creator of the Crack programming language and the MAWFS encrypted filesystem.
I've been a card-carrying Libertarian since the mid 90s, drop me a line if you have any good ideas on Agorism!

non-political alt: https://mastodon.social/@0x0x
Nostr: npub13wt6y2trnvmzd0x8gktuwplj26q3xynwrhvg4wkp248ltgc6yetsj4d5js

Last Notes

2026-01-04 14:39:10 UTC

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As you've said, Maduro was an evil dictator. He deserves no sympathy, and anyone suggesting that he does deserves only ridicule.
My issue with Trump's actions is that they were illegal. Congress alone has the power to declare war, and short of an emergency situation, military action against a foreign power is war.
Of course, pretty much every US president in my lifetime has done the same thing. Hypocritical to blame Trump without acknowledging the bigger issue.

2025-08-23 16:44:15 UTC

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The main thing that can screw this process up is government intervention, both in the form of existing policy and new policy created to address the crisis. For example, we could conceive of a not-too-distant future in which everyone has access to the legal resources currently available only to corporations, governments and the super-rich. Except that this would almost certainly run afoul of restrictions as to who can practice law.

2025-08-23 16:44:07 UTC

In consideration of the (still questionable) possibility of a true "AI revolution," in which most white-collar work is replaced by AI, it seems to me that such a revolution would be no different from any other economic paradigm shift. These always involve periods of instability as we respond to the new balance but ultimately always produce greater wealth.

2025-06-27 23:06:16 UTC

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I think you're probably right.

2025-06-26 01:18:47 UTC

I would never attempt to excuse Trump's attacks on Iran: they were outside of his legal authority. The fact that every other president in the past 30 years did the same thing does not alter the fact.
However, if we somehow manage to make this a one time thing (not another prolonged war) and it somehow ends up stabilizing the Middle East I will acknowledge that it was a successful strategy.

2025-06-22 14:50:51 UTC

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It's definitely a lot quieter than it used to be. The Twitter exodus gave it a nice bump but that doesn't seem to have evolved into a longer trend.

2025-03-31 00:40:38 UTC

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Libertarians (and probably many other ideologies, for that matter) have always had a problem with other groups co-opting their symbology.
I'm not sure how best to deal with this, but I, for one, will continue to proudly wear my Gadsden flag tie-dyed t-shirt. Happy to explain it to anyone who asks, though so far I haven't had any takers.

2025-03-09 00:20:07 UTC

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It seems likely that the President _does_ have the power to fire them, and that he also has the power to appoint private parties to identify and execute the firings. You could argue that he should have to formally sign off on the firings, (maybe he does already?) but that wouldn't be substantially different.
As the linked Reason article points out, no one questioned when Andy Slavitt, a Biden appointed advisor, imposed rules on private companies. Worse, IMO.
https://reason.com/2025/02/26/no-one-cares-when-presidential-advisers-want-bigger-government/

2024-09-16 22:34:18 UTC

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It's been a long time since I followed LP internal politics, but WTF is up with the LPNH? I get that, in general, the Mises Caucus takeover has largely pushed the national party in a more traditionally conservative direction, and I'm no fan of McArdle, but the NH chapter seems to be particularly toxic.
Did the Free State thing manage to just sweep in the dregs, or is it as @npub182r…pm8s says?