January 2015 – Page 3 – Living Freedom

“I am not Charlie Hebdo” (part II)

Published January 11, 2015 2:36 am by Claire

Again, this is the opinion of a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. The following is not by me.

—–begin anon message, part II—–

I am not Charlie Hebdo, because I know that free speech is a lie. The Constitution is a dead letter, and I am a coward.

Charlie Hebdo published offensive speech that was found by a court of law to be worthy of protection. The speakers were killed.

Anwar al-Awlaki published offensive speech, and was killed. He was denied a day in court, and simply murdered.

I don’t want to be killed. I want to work for peace, but I’m not going to stick my head up and invite extremely well-armed people to shoot at me, no matter what costume they wear.

38 Comments

A friend says: “I am not Charlie Hebdo” (part I)

Published January 10, 2015 2:33 am by Claire

I did not write the following. It was sent to me by a friend who has concluded that free speech is now such a myth that anonymity is the only protection. These are my friend’s opinions. Because they’re long, I’ll split this into two parts and run them on successive days.

—–begin anon text—–

19 Comments

Narco cops as narco crooks

Published January 8, 2015 1:10 am by Claire

For your reading “pleasure.” How a gang of borderland narco cops just loooooved their jobs so much they became major narcotics thieves. And of course used their cop power, cop equipment, and cop cover to do it all. You kinda get the impression they’d happily do it all again, too. Vice wars. They corrupt everybody they touch. Always have, always will. Long, but interesting article.

9 Comments

Je suis Charlie

Published January 7, 2015 12:13 pm by Claire

(Via Never Yet Melted) And what Larry Correia said. All the years since 9-11, I’ve scrupulously avoided and condemned the jingoistic notion that all Muslims are fanatics and terrorists. There’s a billion of them and most are pretty much like you and me. But. The strain of barbarism poisoning the Arab/Muslim world is growing more putrid by the moment. Since the slaughter at the World Trade Center, I’ve been waiting and wondering when the peaceable moderates of Islam would rise up, condemn, shun, defund, and de-legitimize the monsters among them. Well, those moderate voices have been way, way too moderate…

49 Comments

I can’t help you with that.

Published January 7, 2015 10:14 am by Claire

In the 90s and into the early 2000s, I sometimes wrote about ways to avoid using social security numbers. Going without an ssn (as many of you know from having tried it, as I did for many years) was always challenging. It also put the un-numbered in the position of being an outsider in society. Still, back in the day, you could do quite a few common things without using a universal government ID number.

Since 9-11 that challenge has become much harder, well-nigh impossible for anyone desiring to live a semi-normal 21st century life. Some succeed. Joel’s a perfect example. But he’s also an example of the extreme sacrifice and creativity it requires. Joel’s existence is as precarious as it is gratifying, and can’t in any way be called even “semi-normal.”

Me? As I got older, I eventually found being numberless more than I wanted to live with.

Several times a year I get messages from people who are trying to live numberless or, even more laudable, trying to keep their children unnumbered. They want my advice on how to overcome this problem or that. I got one of those messages the other day. This is my reply and will be the only reply I ever again make to such requests.

9 Comments

Tuesday links

Published January 6, 2015 7:12 am by Claire

“I carry a gun every day.” This is great! (H/T LA) Wordlessly ending the hassle at a checkpoint. (Tip o hat to jed) Publicola is back! And he comes out swinging at the Neville Chamberlains of gun rights. Lenore Skenazy of Free Range Kids reviews the top 10 nanny-state fails of 2014. Amazing. Wonder. Beauty. Creation. Destruction. Science! And speaking of “science,” a prominent meteorologist explains why the NorthWET has been so very darned wet this year. 🙂 Groom calls off wedding. Bride, family, and friends have some liberating fun.

8 Comments

Interview with Vin Surprynowicz, part II

Published January 5, 2015 10:57 am by Claire

Part I of the interview and my mini-review of Vin’s new book, The Testament of James is here. —– Q. I found the resolution of TToJ more interesting, and certainly more relevant, than the resolution of The DaVinci Code, but surely some readers will see similarities. Were you in any way inspired by that book? A. I have to be careful not to seem scornful of Mr. Brown and his books, or Steve Berry or whoever. Here are these guys who have sold millions of books and entertained a lot of people and made a fortune, and I’m some little…

8 Comments

Yipes! The deluge!

Published January 5, 2015 9:41 am by Claire

Every time I checked the weather between 4:00 p.m. yesterday and 7:00 a.m. today, it said current conditions here were “heavy rain mist.” Um … but that “mist” pounded so hard for all those hours that I couldn’t hear myself think. Sure enough, woke up this morning overlooking a river. The one house I can see across the former wetland below is in at least a foot of water (if not more) and my neighbors across the street (who are, like me, on a hill) are joking that they’re going to list their place for sale today as “waterfront property.”…

10 Comments

Sunday links

Published January 4, 2015 11:00 am by Claire

Vin Suprynowicz interview will continue as scheduled sometime tomorrow. Meantime, some tab clearing … The dangers of tasers. Better late than never, I guess, and the info about the post-tase brain fog is something to think about. Very impressive, resourceful, and brave little girl. Her father taught her well. It’s too bad her hell is just beginning. Speaking of a child’s (and a family’s) hell, the Washington Post has an unusually even-handed story about how that Idaho toddler shot his mother to death. It being a story about Idaho and guns, I note that the D.C.-ites (without apparent irony) assigned…

5 Comments

The Testament of James and an interview with author Vin Suprynowicz, part I

Published January 3, 2015 11:16 am by Claire

A Review
The Testament of James
By Vin Suprynowicz
194 pages
December 2014, Mountain Media

The Testament of James begins, as good mysteries often do, with a death. Actually, TToJ begins with an imposing figure in a black cape sweeping in through the door of a rare book dealer, which may be even better.

The death? Well, that may have been from natural causes, though in unnatural circumstances. The caped, cultured Mediterranean man enters the scene to inquire about a book. A book that may have had something to do with the death. A book that may or may not even exist.

71 Comments

Month: January 2015