It’s not that fostering a dog is a full-time occupation — although dealing with the politics of a canine pack can be as consuming as (though much more honest and direct than) dealing with human politics. I have Robbie — normally the bully of the bunch, but this time remaining blessedly aloof. Clearly he believes introduction of a new female is a problem to be worked out solely by the girls. There’s Nadja. She’s low dog on the totem pole, but those few privileges she can claim for her own are hers, by damn. She’ll even head Robbie away from…
Author: Claire
Well, yesterday was a long, grueling day for Sweetie, the deaf cattle dog. She arrived 2-1/2 hours before her flight from the east coast, was on the plane for nearly nine hours (including stopovers), then had a three-hour drive from the Portland, OR, airport in the dark and the rain. (The humans were tired, but Sweetie handled it all in style.) She’s at my house and doing well so far. Near as anyone can tell, her problem behaviors develop only after she bonds with you and decides you’re “her” human. Then she takes on the duty of “protecting” you against…
In China: rescuing dogs from the butcher. Survival Singles or doomsday dating. (Tip o’ hat to C^2) Memo to the fedgov: How not to attract tourists. The tale of Weela the lifesaving pit bull. Found this after a discussion of pit bulls came up in yesterday’s comments. It’s from quite a while back, but a wonderful story. Well. That about defines desperation. Ick. When clark mentioned in a recent comment section that a state government was about to raid small farms and slaughter their hogs, I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. But it’s pretty awful. He’s the nice,…
Here’s the movie based on John Silveira’s famous (or at least semi-famous) Backwoods Home classified. After making a big splash at Sundance, it’s headed for theaters this summer. Yayyyyyy, John!
I haven’t been in the market for either firearms or ammo (other than .22 plinking supplies) in quite a while. I know that the more hysterical reports about the government “ordering companies to stop selling ammo to ‘civilians’” are … well, just that. Hysterical. But in your experience, how tight is the market actually getting out there? Here’s a report from last week saying Ruger is so backlogged they’ve temporarily stopped taking orders. And even a casual look at local store shelves tells me ammo is in short supply. But that’s pretty anecdotal. What are you seeing and experiencing, if…
One might ask why the FBI had these training materials in the first place, and whether they plan to throw out the attitudes (yeah, riiiiiight) or just the paperwork. You probably already know Tess Pennington’s online series 52 Weeks to Preparedenss. But it’s always worth a link. And soon? A book! Bovard: “First wheat, now health care.” Drone Studies. A new college major. That is &^%$# repulsive. Security: a crypto-nerd’s imagination vs what would actually happen. S, who sent this, noted that these days they’d probably dispense with the drugs. RelaxShacks.com. Extremely cool tips for getting the most out of…
The Tireless Agorist looks at the burgeoning underground economy in Greece. And Forbes asks if Bitcoin might become the favored currency of an international System D. I’m as skeptical of Bitcoin as I am of every cyber currency (once burned …). And my first thought on reading the Forbes piece was, “What will the USA fedgov’s 900-pound gorilla do?” But one of these days, the flailing arms of that monster gorilla will be able to do … nothing. Some innovation in free-market money will defeat it. If it’s Bitcoin, good for Bitcoin.
Sometimes you run across a piece of opinionizing so cluelessly arrogant it takes your breath away. Here’s one sent to me by Jim Bovard: Michael Tomasky challenges us to name a single freedom we’ve lost to the Obama administration. Oh, except any freedoms that mostly only affect people of Arab descent. Because you see, Tomasky is snootily certain none of us actually care about them. (And he’s blissfully unaware that what can be done to the least popular today can be done to others tomorrow. As in “When they came for the [fill in the blank] …”) So before issuing…
Legally blind and a successful photographer. Now here’s a growing profession for you: consultants who coach white-collar criminals on how to get along in prison. The sagebrush rebellion rises again. Brothels. They’re now legal in Ontario, Canada. And for some pretty good reasons. “When we were making V we thought the mask might be popular at parties.” And yet another intriguing trailer for Silver Circle. The coins are real; you can buy them from the movie’s store and Ron Paul was photographed last month using one to make a point.
I just watched a 2009 indie called American Violet. If The Hunger Games (as Brian said in the comments on that film) might have been made by “a right-wing splinter group,” this one could have come from an ACLU production company. But we’re talking about the good side of the ACLU here. Do you remember the phony drug-war busts in Tulia and Hearne, Texas, a decade or so ago? Mass roundups of innocent blacks based on phony evidence? Cases that eventually fell apart en masse under national scrutiny? Well, American Violet is a fictionalized version of the case that eventually…