Heh. Carl-Bear Bussjaeger has an idea for those who are likely to be reclassified as “gun dealers” by Obama fiat: comply, comply, comply, comply … and comply some more. Very good one from Mas Ayoob: Five myths of gun fighting. Until recently, the common assumption was that carefree, laid-back people lived longer, healthier lives and that anxiety and worry were bad for you. Lots of research these days points away from that belief. Here’s one more datapoint. Anxious people process threats in a part of the brain devoted to action. The Bill Clinton effect or why liberals may be more…
13 CommentsMonth: December 2015
Well, since Tom Knapp wants to know and even David Codrea has announced his intention to get on the fried Cheerios bandwagon, this seems a good time to print the recipe. Actually reprint, since I posted it years and years ago. But despite my Cheerio cheerleading, people continue to find the notion of fried breakfast cereal strange. Really, though, it’s better than popcorn on a movie night. And probably better for you (well, if you count the fiber and discount the mass application of butter). My mom started making this when I was about six. We always called it “toasted…
8 CommentsIt should be no surprise to anyone hereabouts, but even as Microsoft pretends to have been converted to the privacy gospel, it steals your disk-encryption keys. If you have v*ted in the last 15 years, you are screwed. (H/T MJR) You may think this absurd, insecure database of v*ters is no big deal, but the implications are pretty catastrophic. And nobody knows who compiled or owns this giant mess? Fedgov, anyone? The war on Asian-American academic success. Repeat violators of HIPAA privacy provisions pay little consequence. Which is totally unsurprising because HIPAA was always more of a privacy-violation enabler than…
9 CommentsA few years back, a reader and friend gave me a Kimber Pepper Blaster II. I’d seen them favorably reviewed in S.W.A.T., and knowing that S.W.A.T. has a no-BS review policy, I was sold. I’m a believer in “two is one and one is none,” but I can’t afford a second carry gun, so this seemed a good backup choice. Besides, I wanted something non-lethal against aggressive stray dogs. Of course, you don’t go out and just use pepper sprays. You carry them around until you need them — or until they go bad and you try to use them…
19 CommentsWolf Richter has a very interesting (and IMHO plausible) theory about where all the anticipated inflation from QE actually went — and why it didn’t raise wages and consumer prices. Any of you money watchers out there want to comment on or critique this? —–
6 CommentsThe five “best” drug scares of 2015. This year’s weirdest science stories. Fourteen — maybe 15 — ways to avoid the Obamacare tax. (Per A.G. in comments.) Thirteen things credit card companies know about you that might make you cringe. Well, thank heaven it wasn’t “gun violence.” Another Darwin Award nominee, courtesy of absorption in mobile device. How embarrassing to die of pure stupid. But hey — at least it wasn’t “gun violence”! In praise of Glock. Ross Douthat on cracks in the liberal order. Not meaning “liberal” as in that thing that “progressives” don’t want to be called these…
4 CommentsAva is the cutest dog. She’s got absolutely gorgeous red cattle-dog coloring, but is more the shape of the border collies that make up the other half of her ancestry. She has big dark eyes in a complex double mask and ears like a bat. And above all, she has this soulful expression that says, “I live only to love you.”
It’s hard to get a good picture of her, though, because until recently she thought the camera was some sort of exotic punishment device, and even now she’s not certain. She tolerates it for my sake, but pictures of her always end up looking like Oliver Twist, she’s so wretched.
I once drew this pastel of her from a photo she blurred by leaping up from a lying position and running off to escape the camera. It’s called “Ava says, ‘Please Don’t Take My Picture, Ma!'”:
Border collies routinely test as the most intelligent dogs in the world and cattle dogs place in the top 10. Good thing Ava was absent when they were conducting the IQ tests; she’d have lowered the average considerably for both her breeds.
13 CommentsAfter the glorious comment thread on the original Name that Cottage post, here are the 11 happiest names: Mo Saoirse “My Freedom” in Irish; pronounced mo seer-sha; Suggested by Pat Dripping Cedars Inspired by Kent McManigal’s suggestion, Dripping Leaves Casa Solana (or just Solana) “Sunny spot” or “sun room” in Spanish; From Seibert Shadowleaf Suggested by Vince Hardyvilla Beth’s modification of Chris’ suggestion Peek-a-View Inspired by Lady Locust’s suggestions Chrysalis (or Chrysalis Cottage) Suggested by capn Sunray From A.G. Nestledown A late entry from TJ Madison Adnamira Carraig Cottage Both from my original list. Adnamira means “flowing water” in an…
12 CommentsTwo of them, actually. 1. The tip jar will be on the counter through January 1 A big virtual smooch to the 9 generous readers who have hit PayPal button and the 2 faithful supporters who’ve snailed donations this month. Thanks to you, Old Blue will get her tires and the clinic will get another payment toward September’s Infamous Medical Procedure. As I said before, if there’s another blog out there that you like as much this one and the blogger is in bad straits, by all means donate to them, not me. If you’re broke, then take care of…
4 CommentsOne wonders how long Amazon will go before it bans selling these aluminum ARt pieces. Whether you have a personal interest in such art or not, the Q&A and the reviews alone are worth a nice, leisurely visit to the page. A sampling: The familiar lines of this exquisite piece warm the viewers heart! It’s beauty speaks to the inner soul that longs for freedom in each of us. It is difficult to describe the duality this ARt exhibits. While it appears rough and unfinished, making its subtle message seemingly vague and hard to grasp, it also screams “AMERICAN!” with…
4 Comments