Sometimes when I write about freeing ourselves rather than joining mass movements or flinging ourselves into political campaigns, somebody will accuse me of being nihilistic or advocating me-me-me values. If you’ve been around long enough, you know that’s not the point. The point is, of course, that true freedom can only arise from within the individual and spread from there. All “political” solutions are just band-aids on a wound if we’re not prepared to live free, to accord equal rights of freedom to our neighbors, and to personally oppose tyranny. Still, it’s understandable that people who’ve always thought of freedom…
Author: Claire
Okay, let’s start out with some nice stories. (The “nice” in this onecomes quite a ways below the headline.) A pair of Muslim cab drivers save a bagel shop. Anybody here use these emergency foods? “What do a bunch of old Jews know about living forever?” Looks like a useful book to keep on hand Sigh. “The more things change …” They were writing stories like this onejust before 9-11, too. And a coupla months later, the nation was full of robotic government worshippers. Truer words … “The science of lasting happiness.” I don’t usually have the patience to watch…
Early this year I used a wonderful Christmas gift to buy a lively, colorful template and a domain name, and I set about building what I hoped would be a freedomista portal — sort of a daily starting place for all things to do with living free. I was going great guns on the project until I ran into a couple of tiny coding issues. The young man I hired to help took nearly two months to do the hour or so’s worth of work (couldn’t fire him; he was a friend’s son; and to his credit when it was…
… but in the healthiest way. That story about an innovative gardener comes from Alaska. Which reminds me … has anybody heard from Kevin Wilmeth lately? They had that beast of a storm up there and I wonder how he and any other more-or-less coastal Alaska readers are doing.
I received a response this morning from Betty Malone, one of the tree farmers behind the petition for the new federal Christmas tree board. I promised you guys I’d post anything substantive I received from the NCTA and I promised Betty that I would post her email without edits or editorial comment. It goes without saying that most folks here will agree to disagree with the NCTA and Betty, but she gives a great presentation for her point of view and I expect disagreements will be expressed in the usual thoughtful style. Everything that follows is from Betty Malone: Dear…
I’m not sure why yesterday’s Christmas tree tax story struck such a chord (with me and everybody else in the blogosphere, apparently). I mean, it’s a $0.15 tax on something you buy once a year. What’s the big deal?* A new USDA program would be set up and the secretary of agriculture would appoint a board to oversee promotion of live Christmas trees. That’s a PITA. But hey, what’s one more government program and 18 more pages of regulation among so many? “Got Milk?,” “Pork: The Other White Meat,” and “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” (among others) are already imposed…
Remember that big Emergency alert system demonstration? Today at 2:00 p.m. EST. Or, you know … whenever. Maybe. BWG. It’s nice to know that “they” aren’t quite up to taking over the world yet.
Doing some tab clearing here … Holder sez Fast & Furious was a bad idea That he, of course, opposed. Yeah. Okaaaaay. But why lacerate his spleen in the first place? Dunno how big a problem this is going to be for people outside of China. But it’s something for PM buyers to be aware of. One more reason to be glad you don’t live in Britain. Who knew that maple syrup played such an intriguing part in American history? Dr. Andrew Weil on dealing with depression. J.D. Tuccille on “Free-Range Publishing.” Some things in life really do get better.…
I thought it was an Onion story when I first heard about it. But yes, apparently we have a Dire National Crisis in the Christmas tree industry that requires the federal government to step in with new taxation. And some people actually like the idea. Big question: If “the industry” wanted this, why did it have to get the gummint to do it? Merry Freaking Christmas. It’s enough (well, almost enough) to turn a body toward that abomination whose name I normally do not even utter: the Art*f*c**l Chr*stm*s Tr**. (Tip o’ hat to S, whose email finally persuaded me…