We may be an awesome species, but there are moments that make one want to quit the human race. This morning I was YouTubing instructions on how to dance the waltz (don’t ask). At the end of a video that showed no more than the basic 1-2-3-1-2-3 box step, there came a warning: Do not try this without supervision, specialized equipment, and further training. Fortunately there was no caution about the waltz being known to cause cancer in the state of California. But really, people. Really??? —– Back on the good, even grand, side of human nature … The White…
10 CommentsMonth: October 2019
On Thursday, a warm, sunny day, I drove to the gas station to vacuum dog hair out of the KIA. I was surprised to find that the station — the biggest, newest, and most modern in the area — was shuttered and its tanks being torn out of the ground. The vacuum, across the lot, was still functional. So I worked away as I watched the workmen working away. There are a lot of things you could think about seeing a nearly new gas station so upended: What a waste! Were the tanks leaking? Is there damage to our water…
16 Comments… is at least as bad as (possibly much worse than) rumors have said. And although this is being done by Britain, we all know who it is being done for. I was deeply shaken while witnessing yesterday’s events in Westminster Magistrates Court. Every decision was railroaded through over the scarcely heard arguments and objections of Assange’s legal team, by a magistrate who barely pretended to be listening. Before I get on to the blatant lack of fair process, the first thing I must note was Julian’s condition. I was badly shocked by just how much weight my friend has…
9 CommentsLast Saturday I thought I might gather some links for you. I’d been using the library’s computers all week, but mostly visiting “friendly” sites. I hadn’t done any general surfing. And OMG, when I ventured into the nooz world, I had to flee after a few minutes. The library keeps its computers muted by default, but apparently they have no defenses anywhere. Pop-ups pop, and pop again, sometimes four or five times on a site. Banners wave and zoom and flip and flash, and change color and generally demand more attention than a petulant two-year-old. Videos play by themselves as…
11 CommentsOn Tuesday I arrived at the library to send already-composed emails and make a blog post. The laptop wouldn’t boot. Bear Bussjaeger quickly and correctly diagnosed a hard drive problem; the drive was going south, boot sector first. But the real problem wasn’t a dramatic crash of the hard drive. It was more like a slow leak between my ears. This post is to recount where I went wrong, note the very few things I did right, thank the people who saved my backside, and serve as a cautionary tale for anybody out there who might be stumbling into similar…
10 CommentsI went to the library this morning to send some emails and do a blog post. The gods had other ideas; my reliable old laptop wouldn’t boot. It went into an endless loop of error messages and unfollowable instructions. I came home and re-installed the OS, hoping that would be the solution. But nope. The looping errors quit, but so did everything else. The only good sign: I can look at the directories via a live DVD and see that data (Some? All? A smidge?) is intact. Otherwise I’m without contact and without clue. I’m composing this on a phone,…
12 CommentsMaggie McNeill: The concept of consent should apply to government operatives, as well as freelance molesters, snoops, and sadists. James Howard Kunstler writes an “in memoriam” for reality. Following PayPal’s departure, Mastercard, eBay, and Stripe all depart F*c*b**k’s troubled Libra cryptocurrency project. “Guns and Cannabis: The Insidious Creep of Tyranny” by John Klar. Borepatch and his comment section nail the governmental stupidity of a system that can prevent wildfires only by depriving people of electricity. … Outages the majority of Californians are stubbornly unprepared for. And (also related), Victor Davis Hanson laments, Why have we become so small? (H/T PT)…
5 CommentsCharles Hugh Smith: What happens when your karma runs over your dogma Why Bernie’s “billionaire’s wealth tax” would hurt the poor and middle class. Len Savage: The ATF’s tactics are so bad, their own lawyer was creeped out. Florida shows us what we can expect from red-flag laws. Kids as young as eight years are getting red flagged “to send a message.” Last week’s best news was ex-cop Amber Guyger being convicted of murder. Then the media quickly changed the subject to the hug and forgiveness she received from her victim’s brother. In all the sentimentalizing, let’s not forget that…
4 CommentsKnowing Amazon, I didn’t intend to appeal the shut-down of my blog Associates account, but at the urging of a kind reader, I ended up giving it a shot. The message that belatedly came back to me from the Associates program began: Dear Sir or Madam, We received your appeal regarding the termination of your Associates account. A specialist has reviewed your account and the decision to terminate your account was found to be correct. As stated previously, under the terms of the Operating Agreement (https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/agreement), we may terminate your account at any time, with or without cause [my emphasis].…
10 CommentsThe following was written by the son of a Living Freedom blog reader. Homeschooled, and mostly unschooled, he wrote this as part of his college application. —– The meanest dog you’ll ever meet, He ain’t the hound dog in the street. He bares some teeth and tears some skin, But brother, that’s the worst of him. No, the dog you really gotta dread, Is the one that howls inside your head, It’s him whose howling drives men mad, And a mind to its undoing. The ancient tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is a familiar one. A young man falls in…
2 Comments