This was a week for getting reminded of unconventional freedoms — and unconventional Outlawry (though some might call it just plain criminality). First, we got fascinated with Christopher Knight (aka the Maine Hermit), whose solitary life some found irresistible. Imagine speaking only one word to another human in 27 years and sleeping outdoors through 27 northern winters. Imagine doing that, yet remaining so un-resourceful that you think stealing from a camp for handicapped kids is a legitimate way to survive. Then yesterday afternoon, NPR interviewed Mike Brodie — not their usual sort of book author. At 27, Brodie is a…
Month: April 2013
On guns and “mental illness” You know I don’t usually get into conspiracy theories, but some connections are just too convenient. First, you build a medical/pharmaceutical industry that successfully pushes the notion that every little sorrow, nervous twitch, or bit of restlessness is a “disease” that needs to be treated with psychoactive drugs. Then you go on a holy crusade to take guns away from the “mentally ill” (and all the bobbleheads who haven’t thought about the implications repeat “good idea, good idea, good idea”). So with the consent of the ignorant, complacent, well-programmed, and the devious slimeballs who take…
The “scariest search engine on the Internet” could be ripe for some mayhem in the right wrong hands. Borepatch has more. Hey, if our children really belong to the state, or the “community” or whatever, doesn’t that mean everybody else ought to have to buy them their expensive sneakers and put up with them when they’re having a case of the raging hormones? Just — boom! — hand ’em off to some random bureaucrat or neighbor for a while whenever they get a little out of hand. “Whaddaya mean, you won’t take Maddie Mae and Jacob? They’re your kids as…
We need a new ban. Clearly, it was all the fault of the evil assault knife! Save us! Oh, save us from our kitchens! “Gilliland said the suspected attacker is believed to have had some type of knife or a pencil.” … Or our home offices.
How can people know that the state is a powerful club, yet still believe it to be omni-benevolent? Why do people continue to believe the government exists to help them when the phrase, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” is known as an irony to one and all? How can anyone think their health-care system will improve once it’s operated by the kind of people who run the DMV? —– What do you do if you’ve already enacted your own personal austerity regime and you’re still not making it? Why will some people glibly answer that…
Strange bedfellows. But I’d be willing to commit a whole lot of unnatural acts with the ACLU as long as they’re on our side on guns and databases. Great idea for great activists. And great use of the power of social media. Sure, the thugs could rip the bracelet off, but surely this would give them pause. Maybe you have to know the people and place involved, but I think this video from Joel and Friends is a screaming hoot. Let’s just say you had one of these. But in semi-auto. With quite a few extras. (Here’s a more thorough…
You probably know that, after 12 years of planning and two conferences that ended in chaos, the United Nations finally managed to pass an anti-gun treaty on Tuesday. BHM asked me a couple of months ago to track this monstrosity and write an article about the treaty and its implications. Here it is as a website exclusive. Bottom line for those who’ve been worried about it: As always, be fierce, be prepared, but don’t panic.
Thanks to the good idea and good offices of MamaLiberty, our collective (is that a bad word?), in-the-works short story “Tansy Shrugged” now has a home at The Mental Militia. ML was even kind enough to pin it at the top of TMM’s Writers Block. So if you’re interested in seeing the tale continue, or even if you just want to read it again without comments interspersed … have at it. This will be a lot better than trying to work in a comment section that has to close after a short while to discourage spammers. If anyone has trouble…
Good news and think pieces only today. How mindfulness (aka meditation) might improve brain power. (H/T. JB) Young goldendoodle saves pregnant woman and her unborn baby. (H/T ML) Also, while this “news” isn’t new, it’s a nice v*te of confidence for bully breed dogs. (One of my neighbors has the most gorgeous, most sweet pit bull/American bulldog mix — aka aka Bullypit or Colorado bulldog. I could fall in love.) “Why I’m getting rid of most of my stuff.” By the inimitable (and slightly crazy) James Altucher. (I can identify. I’ve been in an accumulating mode since buying this house;…
I sorta forgot to keep the “Tansy Shrugged” story thread alive. Which means WordPress’s spam settings cut off new contributions. Puptent was the only active contributor at the end. The story was going where I didn’t feel equipped to follow and perhaps that’s the way other contributors felt, too. Or maybe we all just got busy. But puptent was writing fantastic stuff and the story definitely had fans, including me (and Laird, it’s biggest cheerleader). So … should we open a new “Tansy Shrugged” thread to keep this thing going? (I liked MamaLiberty’s suggestion of taking T. and friends over…