Monday links and musings

Thanks for continuing to put up with the “lite” posting. Posting will probably be on-and-off all this week but should be back to normal by next Monday.

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Mark/Greylocke, the guy who brought us the Knoppix Thumb Drive preparedness document project, is now putting together a YouTube channel for survival/preparedness info. He’s inviting your contributions.

If you have a knowledge or skill you want to share but don’t have the ability to edit your own video, he’ll even do that for you from your raw footage.

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I received my own KTD the other day via Scott’s ready-made drive business. Scott takes the tedious and technical work out of getting those 600+ preparedness documents into usable form. He’s currently selling KTDs for $35, which includes the price of the drive and shipping.

It’s a treasure trove of info. The only equivalent I can think of is Backwoods Home’s “Whole Sheebang” — which is probably better organized and more fun to read but also costs a bunch more.

The drive can be used as a bootable, complete with very simple Knoppix (Linux) operating system. Or the files can be accessed from whatever operating system you’re already using. The useful files are in two folders (KTD_extra_files and the original CD3WD_40). While some are academic papers or commercial advisories and a few aren’t wildly useful, there’s a ton of info on everything from water purification to raising rabbits.

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Though I pledged nothing but good (or at least productive) news for two weeks, I’m having trouble shaking the black mood engendered by the vultures over Newtown. I can’t even crack a smile observing the irony that the same people who long to do this to us, have no problem whatsoever with this.

I don’t want to live in a country that approves of (let alone does, or submits to) either. Some days I think the only thing keeping me in this Land of Dying Freedom is my passel of animals.

I’ll consider this to be at least productive, if not exactly good news. Something to think about: my ex-pat friends are happy.

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At least it’s good that more of the media is finally recognizing the perverse incentives of the snitching-for-profit racket.

Here’s Bruce Schneier on the subject. (Several people sent me that one.)

And here’s a handy interactive from USA Today, of all places. (With H/T to the Infamous Oregon Law Hobbit.)

Be sure to keep spreading the anti-snitch word.

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And although this is rather melancholy, it’s also a gentle meditation on Truth and Beauty. And on thinking rather than screaming meaningless political slogans at one another. “Chiaroscuro Musings and Rantings” by novelist S.J. Griffo.

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Although it appears as I write this that the U.S. probably won’t go off the “dairy cliff” after all, it’s insane such a possibility even exists. Oh my. The persistence of bad policy.

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To close on a more cheery subject: puppies. Puppies and hunky guys. Together for a good cause.

Sorry, heterosexual guy readers. I don’t have any equivalent for you today. Surely there must still be tool companies producing calendars for you, even now that it’s become politically incorrect.