I received a response this morning from Betty Malone, one of the tree farmers behind the petition for the new federal Christmas tree board. I promised you guys I’d post anything substantive I received from the NCTA and I promised Betty that I would post her email without edits or editorial comment. It goes without saying that most folks here will agree to disagree with the NCTA and Betty, but she gives a great presentation for her point of view and I expect disagreements will be expressed in the usual thoughtful style. Everything that follows is from Betty Malone: Dear…
Month: November 2011
I’m not sure why yesterday’s Christmas tree tax story struck such a chord (with me and everybody else in the blogosphere, apparently). I mean, it’s a $0.15 tax on something you buy once a year. What’s the big deal?* A new USDA program would be set up and the secretary of agriculture would appoint a board to oversee promotion of live Christmas trees. That’s a PITA. But hey, what’s one more government program and 18 more pages of regulation among so many? “Got Milk?,” “Pork: The Other White Meat,” and “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” (among others) are already imposed…
Remember that big Emergency alert system demonstration? Today at 2:00 p.m. EST. Or, you know … whenever. Maybe. BWG. It’s nice to know that “they” aren’t quite up to taking over the world yet.
Doing some tab clearing here … Holder sez Fast & Furious was a bad idea That he, of course, opposed. Yeah. Okaaaaay. But why lacerate his spleen in the first place? Dunno how big a problem this is going to be for people outside of China. But it’s something for PM buyers to be aware of. One more reason to be glad you don’t live in Britain. Who knew that maple syrup played such an intriguing part in American history? Dr. Andrew Weil on dealing with depression. J.D. Tuccille on “Free-Range Publishing.” Some things in life really do get better.…
I thought it was an Onion story when I first heard about it. But yes, apparently we have a Dire National Crisis in the Christmas tree industry that requires the federal government to step in with new taxation. And some people actually like the idea. Big question: If “the industry” wanted this, why did it have to get the gummint to do it? Merry Freaking Christmas. It’s enough (well, almost enough) to turn a body toward that abomination whose name I normally do not even utter: the Art*f*c**l Chr*stm*s Tr**. (Tip o’ hat to S, whose email finally persuaded me…
… and preparedness (as we were in the previous post), here’s a sobering take on the subject from Brandon Smith. And from Rod Serling. Even though I repeat and repeat that I think the “zombie apocalypse” or even the all-out localized panic is a rare and unlikely occurrence for most of us and shouldn’t be the focus of our preps, I admit the Twilight Zone clip was too believable to watch, even all these decades later. (Tip o’ hat to J.)
I got this comment yesterday from BHM reader Vicki O: I just read [your article “Circle of Friends”] on the Backwoods Home site and I have to say it is the most sensible preparedness info I’ve ever read! I grew up in the sixties reading scifi, and the decisions you would have to make if you had a bomb shelter and no one else did really stressed me out. I live in a neighborhood i just moved to 8 months ago. I know my neighbors enough to say Hi to, but that’s about it. Can you tell me a good…
Hm. Great minds. (You may recall this.) And almost great ones. (Funny how so many people come so close but miss the real point.) (Tip o’ hat to PT.) Oooh, da poo widdle snitch powice infowment. Him get his widdle feewings hurt. (Tip o’ hat to C^2.)* Weird stuff found in the woods. (Don’t click unless you have a lot of time to waste today.) A tad dated. But amazing Also amazing. Owl flying in for a kill at 1000 frames per second. Oh my. The Internet Movie Firearms Database. Search on a movie or TV show and learn all…
Here’s the latest from Jake MacGregor. Just one chapter again this week (the cold weather is rough on Jake’s health). But it’s one that ties some loose threads. Silver on “The Free Rider Fallacy.” (For the next time one of your dubious friends brings up one of those endless why-liberty-can’t-work hypotheticals.) Sweden. Hey, maybe you could send us some of your government. Well, on second thought … Of course you haven’t been following the long, drawn-out wedding and Insta-Divorce (TM) of whichever Kardashian that is … starts with a K, something like that. Me neither. Ahem. And I don’t read…
Still deadlining. Oy. But I’m beginning to believe that the light I see at the end of that tunnel might not be an onrushing train. This weekend I’m going to collapse in a happy heap. Meanwhile, the news … “Penn Jillette’s 10 commandments for atheists.” I’m neither an atheist nor a fan of commandments. Still, these are pretty good. (Tip o’ hat to PT.) Can any of you techno-hackers tell me if this might work at a distance of 50 yards or so? I’ve had this little problem … Six things nobody will tell you about MF Global. I mean,…