… does the media get so excited about the idiot state-of-the-union speech? It’s all SOTU all the time for days before and for days afterward. When there’s never a damn thing of importance — or even of vague interest — said in the thing. I’ve never agreed with Harry Reid on anything else before. Not that I know of, anyhow. But on this one thing I’m totally in his camp: he usually sleeps through the wretched speeches. I think I’ll be doing sudoku by the fire tonight. How about you? Clean your guns? Reload ammo? Check your prep pantry? Watch…
21 CommentsMonth: January 2014
Hillarious. In a you’d better laugh because the alternative is … well, just watch. And it appears you might actually — eventually — be able to buy them. Maybe. (H/T Silver)
6 CommentsHow we can kill Obamacare and legalize pot. Glenn Harlan Reynolds muses on the power of nullification. Less playground nannying = happier, more alert, and safer kids. No surprise to anybody hereabouts, of course. Rand Paul: If there was a war on women … women won it. Rand may not be Ron, but he’s a pretty sharp politician. (Which may be a good or a bad thing, depending.) Erin Palette has a new blog, Blue Collar Prepping. Being of blue collar (rather than blue blood or silver spoon) heritage myself, I look forward to learning how our prepping differs from…
13 CommentsBoy, this working for a living stuff is hard. Stimulating, challenging, often fun, and a great way to break a long financial drought. But hard.
This afternoon for the first time in quite a while, I was able to wrap up work before meandering in the woods with the dogs. Brilliantly sunny day — and we’ve had more of those than any winter I can ever remember here. I’m sorry for you in the east suffering all those Bad Boy winter storms (Zeus or Giorgio or Henri-Claude or whatever they’re calling them, these days). I’m sorry for you Californians facing a dangerously dry summer. But here? Glorious!
Anyhow, so instead of charging out and back for the sake of doggie exercise and canine elimination needs, I actually rambled. Meandered. I might have even managed a few minutes of strolling. It was amazing. Really.
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And now I’m just rambling here. Just writing down whatever comes to mind. These little verbal expeditions tend to embarrass me, but they also draw a lot of thoughtful, touching comment. Which is I guess at least part of what this blog ought to be about. It’s one of the best feature’s of Joel’s blog, that he just exposes all those warts and lets you visit him inside the Secret Lair on good days and bad.
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Still, other things go on in the world.
18 CommentsOMG, there may be a Velveeta shortage during the Super Bowl! … which would be especially awful when you consider whose teams are playing. What will happen when all those fans get the munchies? Dunno whether this bullying from a TSA thug is for real or not. Wouldn’t be surprised, though. Abramski case. I’d love to see the ATF get its arse handed to it on this one. Just in case you had any doubts about who the fedgov really works for. Judge rules sperm donor to be responsible for child support. Strange ruling. Governmentthink. Dogstuff: sweet and heartbreaking. (H/T…
14 CommentsJust when you think anti-gunners couldn’t make themselves sound more obviously stupid. Good reason to get a Finnish passport. 🙂 Four minutes. Four. To crack Obamacare “security.” Eh. No surprise, really. Fools. I became a writer by accident. For two years, I wouldn’t admit I was one because in my experience, they were mostly a bunch of drunken ne’er-do-wells. But maybe that’s a good thing. This focuses on what will trigger the next stock market mess. Implications (about triggering effects) go way beyond that. You’ll see what I mean. How to get rich and stay rich Again, not what you’re…
15 CommentsSo, do you think Phil Zimmerman’s Blackphone will become the smartphone of smart people? Or …? It could become a crime in Washington state to help the NSA. Government contractors or workers providing electricity or water to an agency violating the Fourth Amendment would be criminals. (They ought to do this in Utah, where that hellish data center gobbles millions of gallons of precious dry-state water.) H/T PT Another of the many ways in which Obamacare is helping. Clever or creepy? Yeah, depends on who (or which alphabet soupers) get their hands on these snake, worm, and otherwise creepy-crawly robots.…
18 CommentsThis is so short and so delightful I’m reprinting it in full. If you wrote this and object to my reprint, please let me know. It’s been getting around a lot. —– Empathy Test By George R. Shirer The assessor is attractive in a button-down kind of way. Blonde hair, pink jumpsuit, digital makeup set to minimal. Her face is a sculpt, something from one of the mid-level catalogues. Attractive, but not too attractive. The same face you see on a thousand other people. Only her eyes, brown and liquid, are original. “You failed your empathy test, Mr. Clawford.” Her…
11 Comments… because of your commitment to privacy? Or because you reject mainstream tech-enabled culture to follow your own path? I’ve never feared technology and was for a long time an “early adopter.” I knew the moment I laid eyes on a PC that I had to have one. I was online years before the WWW was a thing. I met my former Significant Sweetie on a Fidonet bulletin board (gun-rights site) when meeting a partner online was unheard of. These days, however, I shun most new tech. Even some of my granny-aged friends tote their smartphones everywhere they go, but…
51 CommentsI can tell you what living boldly is not.
Living boldly is not flinging yourself randomly at every injustice or every cause. That may be bold. But it ain’t livin’. And it’s not effective at creating freedom. (To paraphrase the great trickster Abbie Hoffman: Random action produces random results: Why waste even a rock?.)
Living boldly is not being obedient while waving your arms and ranting about how bad everything’s getting. (Not even if you rant really, really forcefully and get lots of hits on your blog and have lots of followers on Twitter.)
Living boldly is not flipping off cops just to show you’re brave and defiant.
Living boldly is also not being forever strong and fearless. You can live boldly and still have weak moments, emotional meltdowns, failures, self-doubts and plenty of 3:00 a.m. fears for the future. (Ask me how I know.) Living boldly is what you do in spite of all that.
Living boldly is creating your own life in your own way, even if you’re depressed, discouraged, defeated, and downtrodden. Even if you fear — or are downright dead-solid certain — that the whole damn world is doomed.
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