There’s one thing you can say for totalitarianism: the coolest people will all be Outlaws. They’ll import and export goods without government controls. They’ll provide free-market services. They’ll operate free communication networks. They’ll make unregulated products and sell them in unregulated ways. They’ll barter, use cash, use gold or silver, develop and use new forms of cryptocurrencies. It’ll be just like Libertopia. Except, you know, with the ever-present threat of death or long, harsh imprisonment. But that’s what Outlaws are about. Since totalitarianism is the direction we’re going, hey we might as well enjoy a few silver linings. —– I…
28 CommentsMonth: August 2021
All right, children. It’s pop-quiz time! But don’t worry; I’m sure you’re all well prepared. Here goes. 1. The FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer COVID shot today (brand name Comorbidity Comirnaty). Does that mean the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots must immediately halt, since emergency use authorizations are only valid if no approved treatment exists? A. Yes. B. No. C. Who the &^%$# knows what the law says? Does anybody even care any more? D. The government is always right; you should be reported for asking this question. E. Kill all the unvaxxed! — 2. The FDA…
87 CommentsIf you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill —– We hardly need Arnold Schwartzenegger to tell us our freedom is screwed. As determined as we freedomistas may be to uphold our mental and philosophical freedoms, our political freedoms and economic freedoms are gone-gone-gone. They’ve been going for decades of course. But we now live under a regime that in eight months has ruled via a combination of ever-shifting whim, diktat, incompetence, and a complete disregard for reason, principle, or constitutional law. When you’re ruled by capricious madmen, your external freedoms are moot. Here today, gone tomorrow, partially restored for…
55 CommentsRusty* was a likeable guy. He attended neighborhood parties. He had another group of friends he met every morning for coffee. Always ready to chat, he could often be seen at the side of the road, talking with neighbors and passersby. Youngish women seemed especially fond of him, and he of them. If you needed a hand, he was there to lend it. Rusty was also smart. Clear into his 80s he had a sharp mind, a good sense of humor, and an awareness of the larger world. In his past, he’d been a private pilot, a small-boat oceangoing sailor,…
31 CommentsI owe you a blog. I had one all planned out and intended to compose it this afternoon and evening. It was about what neighbors can — and can’t — do for each other in these strange times. Then I volunteered myself into a situation that put me in the house you see below. The first two images are the living room (if you could call it that) of a deceased neighbor’s home. The third is, I suppose, a storeroom, and reasonably orderly compared to the rest of the entire two story house. But the little brown sh*tty stuff on…
13 Comments