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Month: September 2012

Idiots: A rant

I’ve ranted this rant before. Many times over the years. But … hey, it’s my blog and I’ll rant if I want to. If you’re looking for Profound Wisdom today instead of minor babblings, I’ve got just the guy for you … —– You want to get on my bad side? Put me on an email list without asking. Want to make it worse? Use open cc. For years, when people would do this, I’d quickly tell them, “Don’t do that. Now take my name off your list.” But I got tired of the inevitable responses, of which there were…

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More on security cameras

Couple of weeks ago, I blogged about security cameras. Rather, I blogged to ask about them because I know nothing. I got some very good info, including the chance to look through the “eyes” of several security cameras. (Thank you, S and D — and D, I just love the doormat that says “Leave.”) MJR, who knows a thing or three about security systems, posted a link to a company called 2MCCTV. Somebody at 2MCCTV was watching their Web traffic. That quick, I heard from a friendly 2MCCTV rep named Clint Henderson, offering guest blogging. Who am I to turn…

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Monday links

“A Most Extraordinary Life.” (H/T F) You heard about the woman who got charged $83,000 for two doses of anti-scorpion venom worth $100 per dose. Here’s some background on why — and how Obamacare is only going to make it worse. What do you do when your beagle eats your cash? (Hint: It’s easier, though no less unpleasant, than getting your cash back from asset-forfeiting govthugs.) Survival preps: A week in a bucket. BusyPoorDad posted this is this morning’s comments. A very good idea, though I’d aim for a less grain-heavy mix of foods. Sometimes you see a claim that’s…

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Time to check the preps

I’ve avoided noting that September is National Preparedness Month. I’ve avoided it partly because of the blatant manipulation by the National Department of Naming and Proclaiming Important Stuff Department (NDNPISD — EndPissed). September? Ooooooh, wonder why they chose that? I’ve avoided it partly because people hereabouts don’t need a National Preparedness Month. Nor do we need a “Ready Kids,” “Ready Business,” or “Ready America.” (Yes, all separate ways for the NDNPISD to PIS away your tax dollars.) We certainly don’t need a Get Ready Cats, whose ill-attempt at bringing humor to “public service” drives a stake through the heart of…

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Miscellany ala James Joyce

… or stream of consciousness narrative in lieu of lists of links The browsers are crowded. Thick with links. Bursting with information. But what to do with it all, dear readers? What to do? When the Internet tells one that Hua Hin, Thailand is an ideal ex-pat haven, but Honduras aims to lure us with private cities, where does one turn? We are wanted everywhere at the same time we are welcome nowhere. And I don’t mean merely where does one take one’s weary body when geography beckons. I mean, what does one do when swept away on the bit,…

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Against conscience

By the magnificent Maggie McNeill, via fabulous Fred. Damn, I wish I’d written this! Given these facts, how is a moral person to act? The answer is, by one’s own conscience. Any resemblance between the laws and moral behavior is now purely coincidental; this is not a problem for those of us who have always relied upon our own moral compasses rather than guidance from authority figures, but those whose personal senses of right and wrong have been stunted through reliance upon external dictates will be much slower to adapt. It’s true that, as Voltaire said, “It’s dangerous to be…

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Little Brother, big nanny

That’s what governments are for… get in a man’s way. — Capt. Mal Reynolds So I did some illustrations for Backwoods Home that used money as part of the image. One was built around a $20. Got a public domain .jpg of an Andrew Jackson off Wikipedia (serial number already carefully obscured), then manipulated, altered, edited, truncated, artified it. AND I covered it with little drawn figures. Totally legal under every possible rule of use. All was fine until editor Annie Tuttle attempted to import the illustration into Photoshop to do the final prep to make the art print ready.…

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Snitch book: first review

The snitch book (I really need to start calling it an anti-snitch book) is out for it’s second round of reality checking. But lo and behold, it’s already received its first review. 🙂 One of the reality checkers has what you might call “interesting” experience. He took the step of sharing it with someone who has even more “interesting” experience. I’m not allowed to reveal who these folks are. Suffice to say that if you were an activist in the 1990s, you would have known their work — without having the slightest hint of their identities. In fact, their identities…

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On 9-11: To all who stayed true

I wasn’t going to write anything to mark this anniversary. I can’t stand the annual rehashing, the verbal digging up of the dead, the demand that we always remember, remember, remember — but somehow never analyze, reflect, or correct. Then Jim Bovard reminded me of something that really matters. He noted that Thomas Szasz, who just died, was one of the prominent libertarians who stayed true to his principles after that handful of villains wrought their havoc 11 years ago. So many didn’t. So many people who claimed to be libertarian tossed their alleged principles out the window as fast…

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