• rechelon on Do you find the word “Anarchist” as an antagonist to the movement? reddit: the voice of the internet — news before it happens (2011-01-21). An-Archia means Without Rulership, so regardless of whatever we identify as people will call us "anarchists" and our ideals "anarchy" and they will be correct. In a bit of Orwellian ridiculousness "Anarchy" today is largely accepted as BOTH violent chaos and without rulership. That is to say whenever someone uses… (Linked Friday 2011-01-21.)

• Unfriending. ongoing by Tim Bray (2011-01-20). I've never really got much out of Facebook. Quite likely because I've been Doing It Wrong; so I'm trying to fix that. What happened was, I got on Facebook back in 2007; in the early days I accepted friend requests from almost anyone and in particular anyone who worked at… (Linked Sunday 2011-01-23.)

• Institutions, Organizations, and Anarchy. joshmccabe, The Sociological Imagination (2011-01-20). One of the things I've been noticing as I delve deeper into the economic sociology literature is just how much sociologists take the existence of the state for granted. In most cases, the state is omnipresent in modern society because we could not have markets in its absence. Many Marxists,… (Linked Sunday 2011-01-23.)

• Edison's Predictions for the Year 2011 (1911) Matt Novak, Paleofuture Blog (2011-01-18). On June 23, 1911 the Miami Metropolis published predictions about the year 2011 from the one and only Tommy "Dumbo Killah” Edison. Edison makes some amazing predictions about a future of golden automobiles, the discontinuation of gold as currency, the rise of steel and the death of the steam engine. I'm especially… (Linked Sunday 2011-01-23.)

Here’s to a Shameless 2011!

Again, it’s been a while, so let’s make this a good one.

Round here, the past few weeks have mostly been about taking stock, cleaning up, and preparing. I’ve got talks coming up in February and March (more on which, soon), new work to start on for the new year, and some outstanding obligations that I need to get on top of and get cleared out. I have an article on Tucker’s Four Monopolies which is in the works; I’ve also been chasing a couple of fascinating rabbit-holes — like the seven days or so that this 3 character correction to Wikipedia has led me to spend digging through archives, gathering sources, and putting up new material online. (For a quick overview of some of the results, see the gradually accumulating collection of information at From the Margins: C. L. James and at the Fair Use Blog. James — who was tirelessly prolific and incredibly erudite — was once an intellecutal heavy in the movement; but he’s now almost entirely forgotten, by both Anarchists and the mainstream. But he deserves better than that; and if the Internet is good for anything, it is good platform for some diligent un-forgetting of marginalized figures. If any of y’all, or anyone you know, has good access to archives of the Alarm, by the way, be sure to let me know. I am informed that James wrote some labor-songs for the Knights of Labor, and I’m avidly seeking the chance to find some samples.)

And you? You know the deal. What have you been up to since the New Year? Write anything? Leave a link and a short description for your post in the comments. Or fire away about anything else you might want to talk about.

• Bureaucrats Keep Us Safe? The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty (2011-01-19). The State Vs. Feeding the Homeless (Cont’d) (Linked Wednesday 2011-01-19.)

• The Hillary Revolution. Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-01-18). Brendan O'Neill makes a good point about Tunisia: Western governments…helped to keep Ben Ali in power for 23 years. Cheered as a loyal ally in Africa, a keen supporter of the !!!@@e2;20ac;2dc;war on terror', Tunisia under Ben Ali was backed by both Washington and Paris (the former colonial power). Ben… (Linked Wednesday 2011-01-19.)

• Being Smart With Your Smartphone, Police Search Edition. Brian Doherty, Brian Doherty: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-01-19). Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has a thorough explanation over at Ars Technica of the current state of the law and technology when it comes to police searching your phones when they've arrested you. Some highlights: Last week, California's Supreme Court reached a controversial 5-2 decision in People v…. (Linked Wednesday 2011-01-19.)

• Why am I so mean? Stephen Smith, Market Urbanism (2011-01-17). In the past week I've been asked twice why, essentially, I have to be so mean: Steven [sic!], I'm struck by how well you couple true insight with meaningless insults that undermine your credibility to those who don't share your point of view. Stephen– I like your work here quite… (Linked Wednesday 2011-01-19.)

• Sexting Prosecutor Wants Immunity. Radley Balko, Radley Balko: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-01-18). You have to at least admire his chutzpah. The former Wisconsin district attorney who resigned amid a sexting scandal says he's immune from a lawsuit filed by a crime victim who claims she was sexually harassed by him. Ken Kratz says he was a public official at the time of… (Linked Wednesday 2011-01-19.)

• The Eurie Stamps Investigation Goes Into Lockdown. Radley Balko, Radley Balko: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-01-17). Last week, Framingham, Massachusetts, District Court Judge Douglas Stoddart imposed a seal on the search warrants and return sheets for the raid in which police shot and killed 68-year-old Eurie Stamps. Stamps wasn't a suspect in the drug raid, and he was unarmed when he was shot. By impounding the… (Linked Tuesday 2011-01-18.)

• Poet Who Fought Femicide in Juarez Becomes Latest Victim – New America Media. newamericamedia.org (2011-01-18). Ni una más. (Linked Tuesday 2011-01-18.)

• Some drugs are more equal than others. Thoreau, Unqualified Offerings (2011-01-13). By Thoreau As a helpful guide to our readers, I have prepared a detailed classification scheme for illegal drugs: Class Ia:  The drugs that you used when you were young and wild.  Not as potent as today's drugs, and nothing to get judgmental about.  Sometimes worth getting a bit nostalgic… (Linked Tuesday 2011-01-18.)

Jason Hribal: A Message From Tatiana. www.counterpunch.org (2011-01-19):

My purpose was singular: I wanted to understand history from below. That fall, I took a research seminar on the Gilded Age, and the topic I chose to write about was the Toledo Zoo. It could have ended up being a standard history: the zoo and its directors, their curatorial…

Until the lions have their historians….

As it happens, I am a vegetarian, but I do not believe in philosophical doctrines of animal rights, and I’m not especially keen on the political programs of animal liberationists. But I do think that human treatment of non-human animals is an issue of very serious moral concern, and, as a matter of historical understanding, it’s important to keep in mind that the institutions for corralling and controlling animals have a structure and a history. And understanding the structure and the history isn’t just a matter of human social developments, or how human cultures go about trying to harness blind natural forces. It is a matter of trying to understand what animals have wanted and what they have done.